But what didn't catch his attention in terms of size certainly did in the furnishings of that place. The furniture gave the entire space a Victorian air, making it truly a beautiful place with strong, natural-toned woods, or reddish ones.

Unfortunately, as Dante could sense with his newfound ability to feel the atmospheric aether, almost everything in that place was made of magic. There were no craftsmen, or it was somehow eternal, all of it conjured from the mind of the mage who built it.

However, there was one real thing in that office. Right inside a chest, a chest easily detectable, most likely another one of Zargorios's plans, Dante found what appeared to be not a legendary armor, staff, or sacred sword, but a mask.

And without diminishing the beauty of this piece of craftsmanship, for it seemed truly exquisite and expensive, it covered almost the entire head, leaving only a few strategic points open, and allowing the hair to remain uncovered.

It was mostly silver, with the face seemingly completely covered in a metallic white, seamlessly merging with runes embedded in its surface, with a beautiful triangular celestial blue crystal on its forehead. He had simply never seen anything like it outside of fiction because the strangest thing about this mask was that it didn't seem to have any holes, not for the eyes, mouth, or anything in front of it.

It was truly fascinating, but why on earth was it the only other real thing besides food and clothing?

Dante was so curious about it that he quickly prepared to try on the beautiful mask, and when he finally put it on, he went in search of a mirror to see himself.

The mask seemed to perfectly match his skin tone and almost blended with his hair, possessing colors nearly identical to his but metallic.

While Dante didn't understand the meaning of it, he couldn't stop thinking about how stylish it looked. Amelia, on the other hand, could, and seeing that Dante didn't understand, quickly began to speak openly about it.

"Fascinating, this can completely conceal your presence... incredible."

Dante didn't understand what she meant. He was right in front of her, and he didn't think he had turned invisible and started worshiping some magical ring.

"This might not be so useful now, but it will certainly be crucial when we're in the guild, where people more attuned to the miasma generated by undead are more abundant."

Even though she didn't explain directly, Dante finally understood.

Without this mask, they would have even more problems than he had imagined. Not even he, being an undead, knew that he emitted some kind of scent, aura, or whatever it was. If he were alone, he would probably be in serious trouble in this world at some point.

Dante simply couldn't comment on it, as not only had all of this been planned by Zargorios long before he agreed to come to this world, but it was also probably the most useful thing he could have received.

Not that an enchanted dragon-slaying sword wouldn't also be very useful.

"Incredible."

The mask itself actually fit well, covering his entire face and he couldn't even understand how he was still able to see accurately.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

And being essentially a full-face mask, open only at the upper corner and at the back to allow his hair to flow freely, it was the perfect tool for even an undead worse than Dante to pretend to be a simple adventurer in search of adventures.

Dante didn't think he had to do much more that day. Everything had technically been arranged by him and Amelia, and they would probably finally start their journey in a day or two. By then, Dante hoped to be able to start casting some basic spells. Level one spells weren't the most powerful tools capable of summoning thunder to destroy grand fortifications like the many castles this kingdom seemed to have, but they weren't entirely useless either. Besides serving as great support spells for beginner adventurers, if they had large amounts of aether, they could easily use their offensive spells, which, while not more flashy than any amateur magic trick, could still wreak havoc if used well and, most importantly, well managed.

The remainder of that day was more ordinary than he had expected. He continued to get to know Amelia a little more, and she began to open up more to him, creating a sense of familiarity that would be important for their future as partners.

However, most of his time was simply spent meditating. He couldn't bear it; the sensation was unimaginable. As Amelia had mentioned, he was making rapid progress, which motivated him even more.

At the end of the day, when he finally woke up from long hours of meditation, his hunger seemed to be starting to emerge. Perhaps he could hold on for another day or two before attempting to talk to Amelia. Not that he had any chance of succeeding, but his hunger at this moment could be so overwhelming that he might simply shut down the logical part of his brain and follow his pure instincts, not so different from any zombie in any known movie.

However, the real problems began shortly after he woke up from his next meditation session. It was supposed to be early in the morning, and Dante, naturally unable to sleep, was meditating. At this point, he believed he could perform the most basic and weak spells from that book, but at this point, that didn't matter to him. Unlike what he believed before, that he still had some safe time in this place, unfortunately, it was proving to be extremely wrong.

Because, unlike the other times when he decided to end his meditation on his own, now he was simply called back, not by Amelia, but by a strange and agonizing sensation that pervaded his entire body.

It took him a little while to understand what it really was, until, as he began to sense his surroundings, he finally realized that the atmospheric aether in that place was in a critical state, much lower than he remembered from a few hours before.

His feeble meditation hadn't caused this, as it hadn't changed anything from previous times. No, this was probably programmed to happen, and seeing that he probably didn't have much time to get out of that place...

Dante quickly ran to the hallway, searching for Amelia, only to find her in the grand and rich kitchen. She seemed totally oblivious to what was happening around her and was preparing something to eat, most likely after one of her workouts.

"Amelia, we have to go, we have to go now."

Without waiting for her response, he simply grabbed her by the wrist and her lightweight body, and started carrying her without even realizing it, as he was so panicked and just wanted to know how on earth he could get out of there.

However, when he realized what he was doing, this already in the hallway, and seeing Amelia's lack of reaction to his earlier action, he quickly put her down.

"How do we get out of here? This place seems like it's going to collapse any moment."

Amelia seemed a bit embarrassed about that moment, but listening to what Dante had said, she quickly believed him. She abandoned all her belongings and everything she was doing, and simply began to run towards where they could actually escape from that place.

As they ran, she began to believe Dante even more when, strangely, some walls seemed to appear and disappear, and that was just terrifying for someone who knew that if they fell into that void, they would probably wander in emptiness until they died of thirst.

But finally, perhaps by pure luck, they were able to reach the main gate in time, and even though both of them were extremely euphoric, Amelia was able to calm her mind enough to accurately draw the symbol that would allow their passage out. And when the door that would save their lives finally appeared, connecting this place, a magical plane separate from reality, to what seemed to be a dense forest, they passed through the grand door as quickly as possible.

Finally, they emerged from that place that had sheltered Dante for only a few days, but Amelia for years, to finally appear in the dense forest that surrounded the entire tower.