Questing time again. I got up early in the morning and headed over to the guild to look up some quests. Hmm, after choosing some quests, I showed them to the on-duty guild receptionist and acquired his approval. Today's quests will take a while...maybe a week. So, to prepare, I head over to the tavern and stock up on food, water, and alcohol. Then, I went to a general store and bought some necessities like tent and sleeping bag for camping and flint for fire making...can't use my fireballs since they will burn too fiercely. The quests I choose will be exploring places so I think it would be too inconvenient to bring Blackie. So, I decided to take Agaricus out for some experience gathering. Agaricus, these days, have been stored in my storage ring as he attempts to familiarize with his newfound powers. Now, you may wonder how I could store a polyp into my storage ring...well, Agaricus isn't really organic as he is technically an Undead.

Anyways, once everything was bought and prepared, I left the city and headed towards the Ancient Pyramid, my first destination, in the Sand Desert. After a few hours of journeying, I arrived at the entrance of the building. Now, according to the quest, there have been rumors of people who were thought to be "dead" reappearing near the vicinity and inside the pyramid. The owner of this pyramid was scared out of his wits and has requested the guild's services. I walked up to the owner who described that the pyramid was a tomb for his ancestor. He pointed out that he saw flicking lights deep inside the pyramid and went in to check. To his horror, he saw faces of people who he thought should have killed by his greedy tyrant of an ancestor so many years ago. Naturally, he did not take a closer look and exited the pyramid immediately.

Nodding with understanding of the situation, I told him to wait for my return outside. Then, I unlocked the sealed doors and ventured in. Not yet 10 meters into the large pyramid, I began to sense a slight disturbance in the surroundings. The air or rather the atmosphere of the environment had become thick and slimy feeling. There's a rotten smell of corpse and preservatives. Suddenly, my ears picked up a distinct ghostly sound. Immediately covering my ears, I scanned my surroundings carefully. The sound was the wail of a Vengeful Ghost - a powerful sound attack that can poison the minds of the victims causing dizziness, confusion, disillusionment, and even paralysis if exposed for too long. As I continued to scan around me, I caught sight of some small movements to my left and to my right. It seems the causes are here. Now there are many ways to appease Vengeful Ghosts. The easiest is to kill the cause of their deaths, however, their cause had long died and I can't kill the current owner who is also the client. Need to build up trust with clients in order to ensure future prospects.

Anyways, I can try to talk to it. Hopefully they are only at the Vengeful Ghost stage. What I mean by this is that a group of Vengeful Ghosts will constantly leak out a type of emotion fused with dark essence called Hatred. After a certain number of years of constant leaking of Hatred, the Hatred will form into a new being that is much more powerful than a Vengeful Ghost.

Anyways, as the Vengeful Ghosts approached me, I greeted them using the Language of the Ghosts hoping that they are not too obsessed and cannot hear my words, "Greetings vengeful ones. I am called Khaos, an adventurer. I come bearing peace and harmony."

*WWWAAAAIIIIILLLLLL!!* It seems they have stopped moving but they still wailed constantly. So, I continued, "I offer you peace...a way to appease your suffering. Will you accept?"

Hearing this, some of the Vengeful Ghosts stopped wailing and stared at me intently. Then, one of them spoke, "Will you kill the owner of this pyramid?"

Naturally, the ghost was referring to the original owner and not the current one. I shook my head and answered, "The owner and the cause of your grievances had died many, many years ago."

"Then, what can you do to appease us? If the owner is dead then, kill off all his descendants!"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I can offer you a proper burial ritual to let your souls rest in peace. Please, don't be unreasonable as to kill off innocent people. Don't blame the faults of the ancestor on the descendants. You were once people too and you should know this as well."

Many ghosts nodded, their complexions better and less angry. They seemed to found some inner peace as they agreed to my offer. With a wave of my hand, I manipulated their Spirit Essence into separate vials - each ghost in each vial. After finishing, I looked up and see one more ghost left. I asked him what he wanted to do.

"I agree as well...but I must warn you...we...our constant anguish had created something more sinister that lurks in the deep corridors of this wretched place."

"Don't tell me...a Hatred was formed?!"

"Yes...I believe that's what you call it, but I'm not too sure."

"Don't worry about it. If its a Hatred, then it's no big deal. I will be able to handle it." I replied as I waved my hand again and manipulated the last Vengeful Ghost's Spirit Essence into a vial.

After I corked and stored the vials back into my bag, I venture deeper into the hallway to meet with the Hatred. As I walk further in, I could sense a deep terrible feeling as if something extremely dangerous is in my midst...hiding...watching me. I shrugged off this feeling and brought out Agaricus and had him feed on the dark miasma. As I venture forth with Agaricus close behind, I looked around for clues on where the Hatred could be hiding. Suddenly, I heard a swoosh. With my guard up, I turned to meet the source of the sound. My eyes widened in horror as I saw my opponent. This was not Hatred...but an evolved form known as Anguish. I jumped back to evade its attack. Anguish is formed after Hatred becomes so thick that its body solidifies. Anguish comes in many forms. The one I'm looking at currently looks hairy humanoid with four arms, two of which are holding curved blades. The monster's mouth gaped widely - almost covering half its upper body - as if frozen from screaming in anguish for so long. Sharp teeth protruded from its lipless mouth and a mulitude of long, hairy "tongues" frolicked around everywhere. I am not prepared enough to take on this monster. This vile monster is very tough with high defense and high vitality. In addition, it has increases in strength and speed. Now judging from the size of this 9 foot monster, it is still in its early stages of the evolution. Don't know about its special abilities as they differ with each Anguish, but the common unique ability that all Anguish have is the active skill 'Darkness Boost' where strength, defense, and speed increases 10% every 5 minutes while in the dark and health and stamina replenishes 25% every 10 minutes. To kill this monster, one needs to be proficient in Holy abilities as it is immune to other affinities and it feeds on Chaos and Darkness type abilities.

With a Dragon's Roar, I pushed it back and hurriedly exited the pyramid with Agaricus stored back into my storage ring. I closed the doors and placed a seal on the doors and the surrounding walls. This is to prevent Anguish from leaving the pyramid. Maybe someone else with the necessary requirements can come and destroy this vile creature. After sealing up the place, I told the owner that the "people who died" are gone but because there is a vile monster still inside, it is best that he does not enter it until another more capable adventurer comes to finish it off.

Finished, I walked off into the distance. After a few miles, I arrive at a nearby grassland, and drew up a burial ritual on the ground. I poured out the Spirit Essence of the Vengeful Ghosts and buried them properly. Their vengeance disappeared and their essence dispersed as they prepared to attend the reincarnation cycles.

Done, I hurried back and reported my findings and success. The Vengeful Ghosts have been put to rest but there is still the matter of the Anguish located deep in the pyramid. I've sealed off the doors and the surrounding walls so the monster can't escape. But I think Villain will be here later to kill it.