by Phoenix Grey
Slowly, Lonnell pulled the door open. Then he straightened himself again, his focus entirely on the monster inside of the room.
“Is it doing anything?” Azure asked.
“No.” Lonnell didn’t dare to turn his gaze away. He cleared his throat. “Spirit. What can we do to appease you?”
“Enter if you dare,” came the ominous voice again.
“We have no wish to enter. This is clearly your domain. We only seek guidance.”
So proper. Azure couldn’t help but snigger.
The ghost did not answer.
After a few seconds, Lonnell spoke again. “Please, spirit. I implore you to answer me. We do not wish to offend.”
No response.
He tried a different approach. “Do you know anything about Radclyffe Smithe? He is the current owner of this mansion. He entered the basement and has not returned. We came down here to find him.”
Still nothing.
Lonnell chanced glancing over at Azure and shrugged. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“Ask him which came first, the chicken or the egg,” he teased, but Lonnell didn’t find it funny at all.
With nothing else to do, Lonnell shut the door and returned to the stairs.
“Did you notice anything you hadn’t noticed the first time around?” Azure questioned, hoping for some clues, though he was pretty sure that his friend would have offered them up already if there had been any.
“No.” Lonnell shook his head. “I’m at a loss.”
“So, what do we do now?” Azure sighed, shifting his weight and trying to get more comfortable. Sitting down was nice after all the walking they had done.
Going back upstairs and bedding down for the night was starting to seem like a good idea. They weren’t making any progress. Might as well give up and try again tomorrow.
“Wait for Janine to return. If she does return.” Lonnell didn’t sound so sure.
“And then?”
“Move on.” He gestured to the door at the end of the hall. “I’m out of ideas on how to deal with that spirit. But we should at least see if we can handle whatever is on the next level.”
“And if we can’t? If killing this particular spirit is critical to the success of the quest?” Azure didn’t like the idea of descending into the dungeon only to have to backtrack later. That would just waste more time that they didn’t have.
“We’ll just have to figure it out then,” his voice was laden with an equal mix of exhaustion and stress.
Azure felt it as well. He hated this dungeon already. “How long should we wait for her?”
“This mansion is huge. If she’s really going to go plundering through it, it will probably take a while. We shouldn’t have let her go.”
Almost as soon as Lonnell had finished speaking, they heard the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening. Both men looked up to see Janine coming toward them with a smile on her face and a handful of vials.
“Told you my feminine wiles would pay off.” She slapped three vials into Azure’s hand.
You have received the following items:
Potion of Minor Healing
Quantity: 3
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0 kg
Uses: Heals 30 HP.
“Drink up, buttercup.” Janine reached the bottom of the stairs, then turned to face him and placed her hands on her hips.
“So...you didn’t steal those?” Lonnell asked hesitantly.
“No!” Janine glared at him. “I asked Janora for them.”
“Who is Janora?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“The servant who escorted us here.”
Were feminine wiles effective on other women? Azure wasn’t sure how that worked. He also didn’t know what Janine’s sexual preferences were, but considering that she had children, he had assumed she was into men. Whatever the case, he wasn’t one to judge.
“Did you guys figure out how to beat the ghost?” She looked from Azure to Lonnell as Azure drank the healing potions one at a time.
“No.” Lonnell’s expression drooped.
“So now what are we going to do?”
Azure stood, feeling almost 100% better. Finally, he could walk without his ankle being in pain. What was left of his chest injury was barely a scab. “Lonnell decided that we should press on.”
“All right. Then we press on.” Janine nodded, clearly still proud that she had been more useful these past thirty minutes than the two men. “Are you good now, Will?”
Will. It felt so strange hearing his real name.
“Will?” Lines formed between Lonnell’s eyebrows.
“It’s a nickname. Don’t worry about it.” He waved his friend’s confusion away.
Janine lifted a hand to her mouth. “Am I not supposed to call you Will?”
The conversation made him feel awkward. Will technically was his real name, but no one had called him that since he had come to The Realm. “You can call me whichever you prefer,” Azure told her with a soft smile.
“Then I’ll call you William.” An ear to ear grin spread across Janine’s face. “I prefer it over Will. Sounds more regal, and it fits a handsome man such as yourself much better.” She winked at him, causing Azure’s cheeks to heat up.
Handsome, huh? He wished he could throw a similar compliment back, but he wasn’t much into dwarven women. It did make him wonder what Janine had looked like before all this, though. Azure certainly no longer had the same visage as Will Galvan. She must be different in his world as well.
“We should get going.” He walked past them toward the end of the hall.
A squeaking sound was heard before a singular rat ran out from one of the holes. As if to prove she was no longer afraid, Janine jogged around Azure to get to the front. She flailed her ax, chopping at the rat like a madwoman. The second the rat reached her and bit the toe of her boot, Janine was the one squealing and falling back.
With a chuckle on his lips, Azure moved in to finish the small creature off. She had managed to sever one of its legs, but it was still scurrying pretty well on its remaining three limbs. Not well enough to avoid the stab to its soft body, however.
Defeated Level 10 Rat. 70XP rewarded.
“Son of a bitch! That shit hurt! And that one bite shaved off a quarter of my health!” Janine quickly reached into her bag for a healing potion.
“They’re nasty little things.” Azure knelt to loot the corpse.
You have received the following item:
Rat Tail
Quantity: 1
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.0 kg
Uses: Loot. Sell for coin.
When they were about four feet away from the door at the end of the hall, a white mist began to form in front of it, causing them all to stop and take a few steps back.
“Oh great, what now?” Janine readied her ax.
Both men followed suit, holding their weapons in front of them in preparation for a fight. As they stood there, the mist began to take on the form of a body. The features of an old man with a long white beard and droopy eyes slowly became visible. This was not like the ghost from the other room, though. While it was clearly a spirit, there was no ominous energy pouring from the entity.
“Who goes there?” the ghost said in a raspy voice.
Azure quickly Analyzed it.
Level 62 Protector of the Basement.
Level 62!? What in the hell!? This ghost was the strongest monster that Azure had seen in The Realm so far. The strongest anything, really.
“Spirit,” Lonnell began in the same tone he had used with the door spirit—the same one that made Azure want to make fun of him. “We are Adventurers sent from The Adventurers Guild to find Radclyffe Smithe, the current owner of this mansion. He entered the basement and hasn’t been seen since.”
The protector drew a hand up to his mouth and coughed. “Oh? A mortal man did pass through here several days ago.”
“He did?” Lonnell vocalized with the same excitement that they were all feeling from the information.
“Yes. Not a very bright one, that one...” the ghost’s voice trailed off into a mumble.
“What makes you say that?” Azure raised a brow.
“Well, for one, he refused my aid.” The protector puffed out his chest, though it quickly deflated again.
“What kind of aid were you offering?” Lonnell asked hesitantly.
“Well, the kind that would get you through a ghost-infested basement, of course.” The spirit turned from side to side as if he meant to gesture but was too lazy.
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re alluding to,” Azure said.
“I’m talking about this, of course.” Reaching into his robe, the ghost pulled out a gaudy gold amulet with a large green stone in the center. The chain was so thick it looked like it should belong to a pair of shackles instead of a piece of jewelry. Algae green was the stone with the same black cracks and speckling as a piece of unrefined turquoise. It was housed in a diamond-shaped gold bracket with swirls all over it.
“And what exactly is that?” Confusion was plain in Lonnell’s voice. It was like they were having to painfully bleed details out of the old ghost.
“It is the Amulet of the Underdead,” the ghost said majestically, then followed it up with a long “Woooooooooo,” and a wiggle of his fingers.
This ghost has jokes, Azure thought, unamused.
“You mean Undead,” Janine quickly corrected him.
“No, I mean Underdead.” The protector allowed the amulet to drop from his hand and fall back under his robe. “That idiot who came through here refused to take it from me.”
“Why would he do that?” Lonnell narrowed his eyes.
“Because I told him he’d have to use it to defeat Old Grumpy in there before I’d let him have it.” The spirit pointed to the door with the light streaming beneath it.
“So what you’re saying is that we could pass through the door without taking the amulet?” Janine gestured in a circular motion.
“Yes, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to fight the spirits in the basement,” the ghost warned. “I watched your little fiasco earlier, and I must say that it was rather amusing watching you flee for your lives.”
It was clear by their dropped expressions that the Adventurers didn’t find that funny at all.
“Might have noticed that you couldn’t land a hit on Old Grumpy.” The protector smiled.
“Yeah, we noticed,” Azure replied dryly, still remembering the feeling of having his breath knocked out of him when the door spirit slammed him against the wall.
“That’s because he’s a ghost, and you’re not,” he said matter-of-factly.
“So how do we solve this problem?” Lonnell motioned for him to continue, clearly becoming impatient.
“With this!” The protector held up the amulet again.
“Yes, yes, but how do we use it? What does it do?”
“Oh,” the spirit stumbled over his words, mumbling to himself again, “I suppose it would be helpful to know how it worked, wouldn’t it.”
“Very helpful.” Even Janine was starting to sound irritated.
“Well, you see,” he held the amulet up even higher so that it slowly spun on its chain, “this big stone is a materializer. It turns ghosts solid so that you can hit them with your hitty sticks.”
Hitty sticks. Azure chuckled under his breath.
Lonnell wasn’t interested in the joke. “So you’re saying that if we use that amulet on ghosts before we fight them, we’ll be able to hit them with our weapons.”
“Ohhh, you’re a good parrot.” The protector nodded.
This time, Azure couldn’t surprise a laugh. “All right, old man. We’ll take it.” He reached out to take the amulet, but the ghost quickly snatched it away.
“Not so fast, young Adventurer.”
There was a catch? Of course, there was.
“I’ll only allow you to borrow it for now. To take it off of this floor, you must prove to me that you know how to use it. I think you know what I want you to do.” The protector lifted a bushy eyebrow, revealing a milky white eyeball beneath. Azure wasn’t sure if a ghost could be blind. He had said he’d witnessed the battle, but he sure looked blind.
“Okay. So we defeat Grumpy back there,” Azure thumbed behind them, “and you let us take the amulet with us.”
“Yes.” He nodded again. “But know that once you leave the basement, the amulet will automatically return to me. You can’t keep it as loot...” his voice trailed off into a mumble again. “It’s mine.”
“Got it.” Azure gave him a thumbs up before holding out his palm. “So...can we get the amulet now? We want to kill that spirit back there as much as you want it dead. There’s something in that room that we need.”
Hesitating for a moment, the old ghost pulled the amulet from around his neck and handed it to Azure. As soon as he did, Azure turned to his companions. “Who wants it?”
You have received the following item:
Amulet of the Underdead
Type: Jewelry
Durability: 10/10
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0 kg
Traits: Quest Item. Point at a ghost to make it materialize.
“Ohhh, I kinda do. But I don't know how to use it.” Janine looked at the amulet with greedy eyes.
“It’s easy, young lady,” the protector told her. “You simply point the stone at whatever ghost you want to materialize, and it will materialize. Works in a snap.” He snapped his fingers, but no sound was heard.
“Sounds easy enough.” Janine took the amulet from Azure and placed it around her neck. She admired it for several seconds, her fingers petting over the stone and goldwork before picking it up and pointing the stone at the protector.
Nothing happened.
A chuckle erupted from his chest. “Nice try, my dear. But do you really think I’d make an amulet that worked on me?”
She frowned. “I was just trying it out. How am I supposed to know if it works otherwise?”
“Blind faith, my dear.” He pointed to one eye. “Good luck. If you don’t defeat the door spirit and try to pass through this door anyway, the amulet will disappear. This is your only chance to obtain the amulet. Don’t fuck it up.” And with that, the protector faded back into the mist he had come from.
CHAPTER SIX
THE REALM – Day 73
“You know, to use that amulet, you’re going to have to actually go into the room with the ghost,” Lonnell gently reminded Janine. It was clear that he thought handing the amulet over to her had been a bad idea.
She clasped it firmly in her fist. “I am well aware of that.”
“Well then, ladies first.” He gestured for her to lead the way to the ominous door.
“You know, that doesn’t necessarily mean she has to go first.” Azure cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at Lonnell.
“It, at the very least, means that the two of you need to enter the room at the same time. There’s no point in playing human shield when you can’t defend yourself.” Annoyed with both of them, Lonnell took long strides to the door, placing his hand on the handle as he waited for his comrades to catch up.
Azure turned to Janine. “All right, so the plan is this. He’s going to open the door, you’re going to step inside, use the amulet, and then jump back. I’ll take over from there.”
“We’ll take over from there,” Lonnell corrected him. “As it should be. This is a group effort.”
Azure glanced over at him. “Once the door spirit is materialized, you and I should be able to handle it. There’s no reason for her to get involved unless things get dicey.”
J
anine’s grip tightened around the amulet as if she was drawing strength from it. “I don’t mind. All for one. One for all.” Nervous laughter left her lips.
“All for one. One for all.” Azure smiled at her.
“What are you two yammering on about?” Lonnell asked.
“I’m starting to think that ghost was talking about you when he was saying we needed to defeat Grumpy.” Janine narrowed her eyes at him.
Ignoring her jab, Azure explained, “It's from a book called The Three Musketeers. You'd probably love it.”
His expression turned contemplative. “What’s a musketeer?”
“Oh, never mind.” Janine pushed past Azure. “Let’s just get this over with. Open the door.” She squared herself in front of it much like Lonnell had the last time he’d come to face the door spirit.
“On the count of three,” Azure told Lonnell, drawing his Bergen’s Glaive and readying it to attack.
“One,” Lonnell began, his head bowing slightly after each number, “two...” The three was silent.
He thrust open the door, and Janine took two long strides forward, though her face was pinched as if she were shielding her eyes from the light. There was no sound, but the blue illumination coming from the room quickly died out. Half a second later, Janine jogged back, not stopping until she reached the other side of the hall. That was Azure and Lonnell’s cue to roll in.
The door spirit didn’t look any less ghostly than before. Its imposing frame rushed toward them, though this time when it lashed out, its bony arm connected with the steal of Azure’s blade.
“Looks like it worked,” he said with relief, drawing his sword back to swing at the apparition.
For as fearsome as it had been when they first entered the room, Azure and Lonnell were able to make quick work of their foe. The strength of its attack came from long limbs that swiped the air quickly, but they were no match against a sharpened blade. Azure cleaved one of the spirit’s arms off while Lonnell bashed it in the skull with his staff. If the monster was in pain, there was no indication. Upon Azure stabbing it through the chest, it sank to his feet, its robe billowing out.
