“Every time we enter a floor, we are randomly thrown inside its maze,” Jules explained. “This will keep happening, no matter how many times we go through that floor until we find the floor’s Crossroad and fixate a page to it.”

“Fixate a page?” Christopher asked.

“Yes. When you fixate a page, you clear the floor and earn a free stat point. And when you return to the floor, as long as you carry that page with you, you won’t be shuffled around again.”

“Is fixating a page what causes it to be soulbound?” Christopher asked.

“Kind of. On regular floors, it works as I explained,” Jules continued. “However, there are special floors–called bound floors–where it's different. These floors force you to fixate on a non-generic page. This happens on the 1st, 10th, 20th, and then every tenth floor after that. Pages fixated on those floors become soulbound and permanently attached to you. They will still take up a slot, so you must account for that.”

“What happens if you clear a bound floor but don’t have a page?” Christopher asked. It seemed like a reasonable situation to him.

“It’s impossible to leave a bound floor without soulbinding a page,” Jules replied. He paused briefly before continuing. “I’m not sure which page you’ve soulbound, but be careful with your choices in the future. Soulbound skills grow in strength and will become the foundation of your build. You wouldn’t be the first to mess up your build so badly that they become useless.”

Christopher cursed, growing nervous. He really needed to find out if he could use the Tainted Son of Hor.

He closed his eyes and focused on activating his soulbound Breathing Art. According to Jules, Breathing Arts were the easier pages to activate, and yet, even after fifteen minutes, he didn’t succeed.

Shit, he cursed in his mind, lightly punching the stone floor. Christopher knew there was a chance he just wasn’t skilled enough yet to activate the skill. However, deep down, he suspected it was worse than that.

Until now, he hadn’t discovered the true consequences of losing his Breath, but it seemed he finally had today. If what Jules had told him was right, he had just wasted one of his soulbound pages.

“Are you alright?” Jules asked. Christopher had been silent for the last fifteen minutes.

“Yes,” he lied in a bad mood. “Let’s get going. We’ve been resting here for too long.”

Christopher got up, and Jules rapidly followed. They had been resting for at least two hours, and their back already ached from sitting for so long.

“What are you doing?” Jules asked as he heard Christopher rummaging through his bag.

“Taking out a light crystal,” Christopher replied.

“Won’t that make things worse?”

“If things get desperate enough, I can activate it and throw it away to lure the ghouls.”

Jules quickly agreed to his idea, and they resumed their march.

With Jules's healed wounds, their progress was slightly faster than before. He led at the front, with his blade out, ready to strike at any ghoul who dared to face them, and behind him followed Christopher, with his spear in one hand and the light crystal in the other.

Occasionally, they would stop to give Christopher a moment to listen to any danger ahead. So far, the only sounds were the distant, occasional drip of water.

About two hours later, however, things changed. Jules suddenly stopped, causing Christopher to bump into him.

“What happened?” He asked, immediately turning around with his back against Jules, his spear ready to stab at the darkness.

“Calm down,” Jules tried to tranquilize him. “We have just hit a dead end.”

Christopher sighed in relief, his heart still racing. “Alright, let’s head back.”

“It’s a long way,” Jules complained. “We risk facing those ghouls we left behind again.”

“There’s not much we can do about it,” Christopher replied.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He turned around and started redoing their steps.

He stuffed the light crystal into his pocket, grabbed his spear with both hands and pointed it forward. He’d rather Jules take the lead, but the tunnel was now so narrow and short that the only way for Jules to get ahead would be to climb above him.

They wandered for hours upon hours, and at some point, Christopher couldn’t help but wonder how they hadn’t stumbled upon the slime-covered breeding room again. Sure, they were inside a maze, but they had been following a single, uninterrupted tunnel with no branching paths.

Occasionally, a lone ghoul would strike from the darkness. It had been frightening initially, but after defeating the first six, even Christopher grew accustomed to their sudden attacks–besides, one single ghoul was way less frightening than a bunch of them attacking together.

Christopher’s ability to hear and see the ghouls from a distance gave them a big advantage. Most ghouls approached from the rear, and under his precise instructions, Jules easily defeated every single one. It got to the point where the boy began to wonder if Christopher’s hearing truly was that accurate or if he had the ability to see in the dark.

“I wish,” Christopher replied with a nervous laugh.

So far, Christopher had slain two lone ghouls by himself, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.

Their closest call had been when another large ghoul with grotesque hands coming out of a gaping wound on his chest attacked Christopher. He had managed to keep a good distance from the monster using his spear, and when he finally skewered the monster against the wall, Jules maneuvered between his legs and cut its abdomen, disemboweling him.

I can’t forget to thank Lisa the next time I see her, Christopher thought.

Just as she had told him, the spear was the perfect weapon for him. It was very simple to use, and inside such a narrow space, keeping the ghouls at bay was easy.

Christopher waited for Jules to finish looting the creature. He had suggested skipping the loot, but Jules was adamant about searching every ghoul. Despite the darkness, he meticulously gutted each one, digging their insides for any precious treasures he could find.

Finally, after who knows how many innards spilled, he found something. He wasn’t sure what it was, and they didn’t dare to light the place to find out, but Jules seemed pleased to have it. He even started to whistle happily, only stopping when Christopher warned him against it.

But that was a long time ago.

The path was long and tiring, and the darkness kept them on edge, draining them physically and mentally. Christopher was grateful for the resilience he had developed while on the swamp, and despite being exhausted, he kept pushing further.

Jules, however, wasn’t faring well. The boy was now so tired that his eagerness to loot the ghouls had faded.

More than once, Christopher had to turn back and pull the boy, who had lagged behind and was resting against the wall. Worried about getting separated, Christopher took a rope from his backpack and tied it around them, ensuring they stayed connected.

At some point, their path split into a web of narrow tunnels. Not bothering to consult with Jules, Christopher chose the direction himself, alternating between the right and leftmost paths.

After not so many twists and turns, he realized he couldn’t retrace his steps, even if he tried.

Luckily, he wouldn’t need to do so.

Traveling in the darkness for so long had turned Christopher’s already enhanced hearing even sharper. He halted abruptly, planting his feet firmly on the ground and lifting his spear, ready to strike.

It was barely perceptible, so faint it might have been his imagination, but he thought he heard something ahead.

“Jules?” Christopher called with a whisper.

Christopher’s arms were heavy, and the tunnels had widened enough for two people to walk side by side. He was sure he couldn't hold his ground if a fight broke out and two ghouls struck simultaneously.

“Jules?” He insisted again, slightly louder this time. The boy grunted and stepped to his side before falling silent again. Christopher knew he was leaning against the wall.

He sighed and strained his ears. The sound was a bit louder now, and it wasn’t like ghouls at all. It was orderly and soft, like a group of people marching, in stark contrast to the dry clatter of bone against the cave floor.

“Let’s go,” he encouraged, tugging gently on the rope to prompt Jules into motion.

Christopher took the light crystal out of his pocket and advanced carefully, ready to use it at the first sign of danger.

They continued along the tunnel as it curved slightly to the left. The marching noise had now faded, but in the distance, Christopher caught the faint murmur of what appeared to be two people talking. Moments later, the murmurs vanished too.

Are we close to the exit? He wondered.

His question was answered a moment later as the tunnel straightened again.

Far in the distance, a dim, yellowish light appeared at the end of the void. It was not enough to light up the tunnel but enough for a huge smile to appear on Christopher’s face.

He turned around and shook Jules awake.

“I think we found the exit,” he said, barely able to contain his excitement.

Jules babbled something ineligible and rested his face against the wall.

Christopher rolled back his eyes and pulled on the rope, dragging the boy towards the exit.

As they approached the light, the shadows danced around them. A single torch, firmly secured with sturdy black iron nails, flickered dangerously, its flames whipped by a draft from the tunnel.

A pained groan escaped Christopher’s lips as he stepped outside the tunnel onto the light.

After so long in absolute darkness, even the faint yellow light was enough to make him squint in discomfort.