The most complex element was obviously the stone slab. Unfortunately, it didn’t show any hints regarding its past purpose. It certainly didn’t look like a sarcophagus or some other container so it was pretty easy to assume that it was a kind of ceremonial table or counter for hopefully not-too-evil rituals. I found no hidden compartments or switches even with Rose’s help.

  After the girls collected all the nuclei that survived their meeting with Aisha’s new hammer, I quickly sketched the room onto my map as it was a great orientation point and we decided to move forward. There was only one other exit besides the doorway that we had come in through so we didn’t have to think too hard about directions. Our formation remained the same and Rose took the lead.

  Past the chapel, it seemed that the number of enemies increased just a little bit. We hadn’t explored much of the Dungeon yet since it was still day one, so it was hard to tell if we had ended up spawning somewhere on the outskirts of this place or closer to the assumed center. But, if we took the growing presence of monsters as a sign, then we should be heading deeper right now.

  Therefore, we raised our wariness as we continued. Our goal was just to get familiar with Levia’s way of fighting in the team and feed her some experience on the side. Lone enemies or small groups were perfect for that. With Levia lacking anything more useful than her newly bought and created arcanas, her repertoire of abilities and spells was limited. It was best to avoid bigger confrontations during this expedition.

  But, as it usually would happen in life, things didn't like going according to the plan too often.

  After fifteen minutes of wandering, we stumbled on another bigger chamber. This time, it looked like a dining area of some sort. Plenty of long tables with benches on both sides filled the stone room. Of course, they were as damaged as everything else in this place. Four metal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and burned with the same blue fire. Three other doorways led out of the spacious room, with one additional, closed passage found behind what looked like the serving counter, most likely hiding the kitchen area or storage.

  At first look, we didn’t spot any extremely dangerous variants loitering around the ruined mess hall but that wasn’t exactly the problem here.

  Their number was.

  I counted twelve Skeletons in various states of disbonement—yeah, I just made up that word, so what—and wielding a wide range of rusted, falling apart weaponry and armor. Assuming that no more of them poured into the chamber through the other entryways, which always was a possibility.

  ~Rose, could you carefully float up to the rest of the exits and see if there are any monsters in there?~ I asked our Pixie friend mentally.

  The pink sphere whirred enthusiastically, gave me a peck on the cheek, and flew out into the open, zooming toward the ceiling to avoid detection. Aisha smirked at me and I rolled my eyes at her with a small smile.

  ~I should be able to put a Hex on them if you wish,~ Levia suggested.

  ~A Hex? What would it do?~ I turned to face the blue-skinned lady.

  ~Work like a barrier and prevent the low-level undead from passing through. They would be repelled when coming close to the doorways. You can say that it is close to a weak barrier,~ she explained.

  ~Ah. I thought you meant the Skeletons when you said ‘them’.~ I cocked my head back.

  ~That can be arranged too. I should be able to create a curse of Slow with my arcana, capable of affecting all the monsters in this chamber,~ Levia replied.

  A quiet chuckle reached my mind.

  ~Our little Witch certainly is very capable. As expected from someone chosen by you.~ Aisha smiled at both of us.

  ~I don’t think I had anything to do with that.~ I smiled back at her and turned my attention back to Levia. ~So, what do you need to make that work?~

  ~The cards you gifted me are of great help in terms of the preparation of my magic. Even if I make a mistake drawing the patterns out in the field, which might happen often in such circumstances, I can quickly rectify them just by erasing the incorrect part.~ She brought a clean card out of the holder and held it between us with respect. ~I need a few minutes to finish the circuit. Then, I can seal off the exits.~

  As she finished her message, Rose returned to us and I focused my mind on talking with the cute orb. From her report, it seemed that there were a bunch of other Skeletons here and there in the passages leading out so we all agreed to go with Levia’s plan. The monsters hadn’t noticed us yet so we scanned the room with our eyes while the skilled Witch hastily did her thing.

  After she was done, we curiously observed as Levia brought out three nuclei we had picked up from the Skeletons earlier and placed them on her palm. She closed her eyes and focused deeply, starting to whisper some chant as quietly as she could. Her words felt ominous and a tad creepy, like they tickled something deep in me as I listened, and it certainly wasn’t a nice and pleasant tickle.

  The three uneven stones floated up from her palm and something akin to a faint spiritual flame of green and black surrounded each of them. They spun around, emitting weak flashes as Levia continued speaking in a trance. After about twenty seconds, they fell back down into her hand and only barely noticeable wisps of black and green smoke wafted from them now.

  ~I am finished. We need to place them down in the exits and I can activate them remotely. I am confident in my throwing ability but the noise might alert our enemies to our presence so we should be ready to fight when we do so,~ Levia said as I lent her a hand to stand up.

  ~That won’t be necessary. Let me take care of that,~ I replied, still holding my palm in front of her after helping her up.

  She obediently passed me the three stones and I immediately felt uneasy just from them touching my skin. Curses and Hexes might just have this effect on people not accustomed to them. It was an eerie feeling, but also interesting and somewhat entertaining.

  Without delaying it too much, I made the nuclei float with Telekinesis and slowly sent them to each of the doorways. No one noticed anything as the crystals hovered under the ceiling and delicately descended to the ground at their correct destinations. This might not be an extremely powerful offensive ability but it shone the most during times like these.

  ~Alright. We start right after you cast your curse. Stay close to me at all times. Aisha, you do you,~ I said after wrapping the delivery up.

  ~Brilliant.~ My drakan mate grinned excitedly, reaffirming her grip on the hammer and correcting her stance.

  Levia held the prepared arcana up in the air. A white flash briefly illuminated our surroundings and the card dissipated into nothingness. The Skeletons all turned their spooky heads toward us and we noticed that their bodies gained a delicate glow of the same color. As they launched themselves at us, it became clear that Levia’s magic worked perfectly as intended. Their movements looked like they were in a slight slow motion.

  “That’s neat,” I commented with a smile.

  “Super neat!” Aisha laughed and rushed forward with her Launch.

  “Shall we go, then?” I raised a brow at the short lady next to me.

  “I will leave my safety in your hands as I support you from behind.” Levia nodded, fetching another card from her holder already.

  We followed after our companion shortly and engaged with a few troubled Skeleton Warriors on our own. There was no reason for me to worry about Aisha with her opponents being simple and fragile monsters like these, even powered down significantly. If I could easily avoid their impaired moves, she would definitely feel like she was in front of a free all-you-can-smash buffet.

  My handaxe orbited me protectively as I purged the unholy with my mace. Just to be completely sure, I didn’t get overconfident and used my buckler to block or parry now and then. I had a person under my care and there was no place for any silly mistakes. Levia could get hurt if I fucked up a dodge or something, which wasn’t impossible with multiple opponents aiming for my neck.

  As we fought the skellies, I took notice of the Hex she had cast doing wonders. A few monsters stood still right in front of the dropped nuclei, staring into the chamber blankly and clicking their chattering teeth together. They could do nothing else but watch us turn their friends and family into dust. It didn’t seem like they were able to just kick the stones or something to clear up their way.

  Loud shattering and clattering noises filled the dining hall as Aisha wreaked havoc everywhere around. She clearly had a blast dancing around the slow Skeletons and practicing her skills with a war hammer.

  From what I could see, whenever she used Sharpen on it, hitting an enemy with the flat side would send them flying in pieces from somehow raised force of impact. Needless to say, her Ground Pound worked much better with a hammer than an axe. As for Sunder, it wasn’t that compatible, eating up a lot more mana in exchange for a much larger blade of energy.

  As I smashed the pelvis of some poor bastard—judging by the shape, certainly a dude—Rose informed me about three more assailants heading for my back, and therefore, for my witchy companion. But, before I could turn around to face them, I saw a weak flash and heard a quiet whoosh of something akin to a weak wind. A chilly sensation hit my back and I shivered involuntarily.

  Finally taking a glance in that direction, I saw Levia extending her right arm forward with a card between her fingers and directed ahead too. A misty gust of frost spewed out of it like an ice-based flamethrower as she chilled the undead trio to the bone. She redirected the cold stream between the three targets and kept them more or less incapacitated, allowing them to move only half a step whenever she altered her aim.

  Not wasting any time, I rushed ahead and while carefully observing the floor so as not to slip on the icy ground like a complete idiot and removed one sack of bones from this world with two well-aimed strikes. She kept the other two almost permanently frozen and I dealt with them easily thanks to that, suffering only a little bit from the chilly draft that still headed my way. Her card disintegrated before I finished off the last Skeleton so the spell clearly had a duration limit, perhaps enforced by the material the arcana was made of.

  A few minutes later, we were done, standing together in the middle of the carnage. The already crumbling furniture had been obliterated into splinters and a sea of cracked, broken, crushed-to-dust bones littered the floor. All of that was in front of a few spectators staring lifelessly into the chamber from the three blocked exits. It was kind of anxiety-inducing seeing them just exist there, doing nothing. I constantly checked on them, feeling like they would suddenly choose to ignore the Hex and join in on the fun.

  “Will they just remain there forever?” Aisha asked, resting her hammer on her shoulders like a simple bar and hanging her arms over it.

  “The only way to remove the magic is to destroy the medium. There is of course a chance that it could cease to work at some point in the future but that could take a few years at least. This is not some complex and energy-draining Hex but a simple spell with just one goal. A monster’s nucleus being its core also has an influence on it since it is full of energy and needs no resupplying,” Levia explained her magic.

  “Crafty. We could technically use something like that to create a safe zone if we needed one, right?” My mate grinned.

  “Albeit that is not the intended use, you are not wrong. It definitely is not something for people of faint heart, though.”

  The impish look Aisha directed at me made it painfully clear what she had in mind. The lack of any safe zones inside the Dungeons was somewhat limiting as the only time we could leisurely chill out and admire the place was only after we had succeeded in clearing it. Levia’s recent showcase introduced a way to bring some excitement to our lives and I had a feeling that a certain thrill-seeker was going to crave new experiences soon.

  “We will certainly find a lot of uses for your incredible spells. Was that Ice Brea—”

  I stopped mid-sentence as Aisha raised her clenched fist in the air. She had a focused, no-nonsense expression on her face. As frivolous and mischievous as her nature was, she could drop the silly antics in an instant if the situation required it. And, it looked like it just did.

  We waited in silence as she scanned the room with her inquisitive eyes, definitely being able to spot more details with her Darkvision than me at least. She then turned towards the serving counter and furrowed her brows.

  “There’s moaning coming from that direction,” she announced, staring towards the only door in this entire place.

  I had no doubt that she didn’t mean that kind of moaning so I grew serious too and focused deeply.

  “There might just be something,” I agreed. “I’m not as sensitive as you but I think I can hear some groans.”

  “I am now able to notice the sound too.” Levia nodded softly. “We should be wary. This might be the work of some kind of a monster. There are many undead creatures that specialize in ambushes and trickery.”

  “True. That would also mean that it’s aware of us.” I rubbed my chin.

  “What do we do? Smash the door from a distance to surprise it?” Aisha asked, taking her weapon off her shoulders.

  “Rose, could you check if you can go through that door?” I glanced at our lovely friend. “Just, be super careful. Don’t fully phase in.”

  She bobbed in front of me and zoomed towards the mentioned door. Slowing down in front of it, she gradually pushed herself into the wood bit by bit. We watched more of her spherical body plunge into the material, and soon, most of her was gone.

  I furrowed my brows as soon as Rose’s message reached me. “It’s a person.”

  “A person?” Aisha glanced at me curiously.

  “Seems to be another human. He wears light gray robes with a hood. From what she says, he seems to be injured. A metal staff with a detailed cross is lying on the floor next to him. There is no immediate danger in sight,” I relayed everything to them even though they should surely be able to listen to our conversation if they focused enough.

  “That still might be a trap. An elaborate one.” Aisha scrunched her nose.

  “I can try to cast a curse aimed only at humans to confirm his race at least,” Levia suggested. “If he is a monster in disguise, we will know immediately.”

  “Do you know anything that won’t make it worse for him?” I asked.

  “I will make him temporarily blind. That should not extend his injuries in any way,” she replied confidently.

  “Will we have to open the door anyway?” Aisha wondered out loud.

  “If your Pixie friend managed to pass through this door, so should my magic. I might require help in aiming it properly.” Levia brought out one of her cards.

  “Rose will assist you. Just ease your mind and connect with her properly. I assure you that she doesn’t mean you any harm,” I said and the white-haired lady nodded.

  I prepared myself with Aisha for the worst and we escorted Levia to the door, listening to the more audible groans. She activated her card and closed her eyes. Black darkness seeped out of it as the Witch focused on locating her target. After a moment, the evil smoke leaked toward the floor, and the arcana dissipated. The shadowy mist made its way through the gap in the door and disappeared.

  “W-What? My eyes? What the hell?” A man’s shocked voice reached us soon after.

  We nodded at each other with Aisha and opened the door. Just as Rose had told us, an injured guy sat on the ground in this small storage, resting his back on one of the walls. His head snapped to us and his unnaturally black eyes frantically jumped around, unable to see who or what had peered into his shelter.

  “You can deactivate it,” I instructed our quiet Witch and she obeyed without a word, returning his eyes to a normal green shade.

  “Oh, thank gods… I thought I got found out by those monsters but it’s actually—”

  The man paused right after his sight returned and his expression turned even more surprised than when he had heard us open the door, perhaps also somewhat confused.

  “Something wrong?” Aisha squinted at him, brandishing her war hammer.

  “Ah, no, mmggghmmm…” He grunted with a wry smile, pressing a hand to his stomach. “I wasn’t expecting to see so many people, hahaha…”

  “What happened to you?” I asked, gesturing at his bloodied clothes with my head.

  “An ambush, I’m afraid.” He let out a strained moan. “I stumbled on the room you three walked in here from and started fighting with the Skeletons. It wasn’t anything dangerous in my eyes. I’ve dealt with bigger numbers even before becoming a Defender. But, something appeared behind me while I was in combat and someone stabbed me in the guts with a dagger. I swung at them but they were too nimble and escaped my reach, diving into shadows after gaining some distance.”

  “How are you sure that it was someone?” Aisha kept glaring at him.

  “Some of the Skeletons turned towards that person for a brief moment. It’s only thanks to that lapse in their attention that I managed to get here and slam the door closed. If that someone didn’t get away so quickly, they would definitely have attacked them. Ugh…”

  I exchanged glances with my drakan mate. We did know a person fitting the image and situation, at least to some extent. But, it wasn’t right to make assumptions with just this much.

  “For someone bearing the insignia of a Priest, it does not seem like you are able to heal yourself,” Levia said calmly, recapturing our attention.

  “Very observant of you, my lady.” The man shook his head dejectedly. “That’s right. I’m pretty much out of mana. If I tried to heal this kind of wound, I would inevitably pass out in the middle. And that means certain death in my current state.”

  “I assume that you are going to ask for our help?” I crossed my arms under my chest.

  He looked up at me with a crooked smile. “Should I even do that without knowing if you don’t hold the same intentions towards me as the previous person? You might have as well come to finish me off after that failed assassination. There are four of us here, which means there should be no more Defenders in the Dungeon. No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t bode well for me, does it?”