CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: DUNGEON EXPLORER

  The front door slammed shut behind him with a loud crash, sealing Cassius in the manor. Cassius looked back at the door for a moment before he pushed forward deeper into the large building. His shield’s width nearly covered the hallway’s breadth, so narrow it was. Each step was carefully taken, slowly as Cassius waited for something to happen.

  The short hallway took over a minute to cross, nothing emerging to meet him. Another room opened up, wider and far more grand than the entryway. Another statue stood in the center of the wide room, a wax covered chandelier above it. Dripping had fallen upon the statue’s face, covering it in globs of partially solidified wax. It was impossible to see the face, but the body was of a bare woman, holding a round belly with both hands.

  “Urghhhhh,” the groan sounded as soon as Cassius stepped out of the hallway and into the wide room. A door to the side, previously hidden by a tapestry, burst open. A man staggered into the room, dressed in a trim black coat, white shirt with pearl buttons, and black pants that ended perfectly at shining black shoes. A red vest with a golden chain linking from a pocket ran across his extended belly, bloated beyond human possibility.

  Cassius opened his mouth to instinctively call out to the man, but the slack, waxen, face was enough to know that whatever this creature was, it wasn’t alive. There had been enough bodies found laying in the slums of Aurum for him to know a corpse when he saw one.

  It groaned again, a rattling sound wet with phlegm as it lunged forward. Its spindly legs propelled it across the room faster than Cassius expected, long strides eating up the ground as its jaw opened wide, bones cracking as it extended further than possible.

  [Reinforce] flared through Cassius as his shield gleamed with mana, just in time as the creature slammed into the shield. The weight and strength of the attack was more than Cassius had expected, power that belied the creature’s frame.His feet slid back along the polished floors, gouging out lines of wax as the creature’s snapping jaws closed over the top of the shield. Mangled black teeth cracked down on the rim of the shield and Cassius’s eyes widened as the metal bent under the strength of the bite.

  Still running [Reinforce], Cassius shoved the creature back while using [Thrust] on his shield. The two skills mingled together as his arm shoved forward with a crisp snap, throwing the undead monstrosity off of its feet and across the room. It slammed into the ground and slid back to hit the statue’s feet.

  Mana flickered out of existence as his reserves drained dangerously low, [Hunter’s Sight] faded away, Cassius wavered on his feet as he tried to recover from the sudden rush of mana loss. A deep breath of air steadied him as the creature slowly rose to its feet in jerky motions. Red-black blood ran down its face, old clotted blood that slid free like a deflating waterskin.

  [Hunter’s Sight] slipped back into place, granting Cassius a moment to finally look over his opponent as it got its feet back under it. Instantly his eyes were drawn to its head, a fixation that he couldn’t shrug off even as information flitted through his mind.

  Corpus Mortuum

  Level Eight

  Information: A corpse imbued with unknown energy

  It was the first time he had experienced any level of detailed information from his skill. The creatures staggered forward like a puppet missing strings, nothing smooth or natural about its movements as it began to gather speed again as it started its charge.

  Prepared for its speed, Cassius braced his spear on the edge of the shield, eye locked on his target as it got closer. Right before it entered his spear’s reach, he started to activate [Thrust] keeping his eyes locked on the spot between its eyes that [Hunter’s Sight] insisted was important. His core trickled energy up and filled his arm as he lashed out, spear swift as a diving hawk.

  Bone and blood exploded outward in a brackish spray as the creature stopped in its track, legs locked still as the haft of the spear pierced through the skull. A balancing act that only lasted a moment as the top part of its skull broke apart and it slumped to the ground at Cassius’ feet.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Eyes locked further on into the manor, he waited for more of the lurching monsters to break free of hidden doors, but nothing else emerged as he waited. With a foot he rolled the corpse over to its back, biting back a grimace at the feel of the corpse even through his boots. It was like a rotten melon,water sloshing through a thin shell.

  The oldest of a legionnaire’s rites were performed as Cassius reached down and plucked the gold chain free of the creature’s pocket, pulling a circular glass and gold thing free. Writing was inscribed on it along the circumference of the circle with two arms that moved, one faster than the other. Cassius wrapped the precious chain around the glass carefully before reaching behind himself and sliding it into his pack.

  He shook the spear free of the last of the remnants of brain matter and gore, stepped over the body to continue his search. The room the monster had raced through was deserted, but held several hallways and the secret passage the creature had come from. Doors were firmly shut on each of the rooms, rich dark wood that looked solid as stone.

  Cassius licked his lips as he looked down the hidden passage. It was a narrow hallway, the bones of the house exposed, cobwebs and rat droppings apparent. A servant’s passage or something similar. He glanced back at the corpse and wondered if the well dressed creature was only a servant or the master of the manor.

  The door clicked softly as he closed it, backing up to open another of the doors, one that looked like it would run parallel with the front of the manor and not take him deeper into the depths of the building. Locks clacked as he grabbed the handle, pushing the lever down and pushing it open to cautiously step into the next room, tower shield in front of him.

  Weight slammed into him, tossing him back as snarling teeth slammed into the rim again, feral red eyes glaring at him. [Reinforce] flared through his body, his legs stiffening as mana held him steady while his arm grew stiff, able to hodl the assault at bay as he looked at the monster.

  Similar in build to the first of the monster, the woman’s hair was astray, dirty, caked in blood and dirt. Red eyes glared at him as her dirty nails scrabbled at him, trying to tear at flesh as Cassius shoved her back. She was smaller than the first one, weaker, her body breaking as she hit the corner of the doorframe. Bones stuck out from where she landed, piercing her thin skin as she struggled to rise from her heap.

  Cassius gave her no time as he slammed the bottom of his shield against her fragile skull. There was a pop as it caved in, an alert sounded through his mind a moment later, but no new information came aside from the newest of the undead being only a level five.

  There was nothing to take from her, weapons or wealth, only a stained dress that was rapidly growing filthier. Cassius stepped over her, feeling a sense of deja vu as he thought of the times he’d stepped past bodies in alleys after searching them with swift hands for anything of value.

  “I have more food this way. Steel as well,” Cassius said to himself, shaking the old memories free as he looked around the newest room. More doorways led further around the manor, all the doors locked. A long piece of furniture sat in the middle of the room where the window shades could be opened to allow light to fall on it. Shelves ran the length of the room, all of them burdened by tomes.

  “Not a thing I would want to carry out,” Cassius said with a groan as he looked at the tomes written in a foreign tongue. None of the titles reached out to him, their gold lettering nothing more than flake that peeled off under his fingernail.

  The couch was comfortable, he sat on it and drank from his waterskin, pulled a piece of dried meat and hardtack from his pouch and ate in the secured room. His mana was slowly recharging, eating and drinking, helping it along while he waited and thought.

  His knowledge of dungeons was limited, but he assumed that the others were in here somewhere with him. Likely forced to defeat their own manor before they could reunite. Of the entire party, he was the physically weakest, but [Hunter’s Sight] had allowed him to see the weakness these undead had. Valeria would be in the most danger, her weapons, experience, and skill suited for group combat.

  Vira, Leto, and Titus would likely be fine with their swords and armor being suited more for this than his heavy shield and long spear. In tight quarters he had little flexibility to maneuver, but if he could force them to meet him head long in the narrow halls or doorframes, he was protected.

  He’d continue to clear the manor, kill the undead, and look for anything of value that could be carried in his pack. There was a worry of what the old centurion had warned him of, the wraith that had killed the centuries on the hill. Cassius grimaced at that thought, for the ghost was no clear allie either, acting strangely after its message was delivered.

  “This is more twisted than the warrens of Aurum,” Cassius finally said as he tossed future thoughts away as he packed away his food and drink. Nothing had come for him as he waited aside from the slowly growing puddle of gore coming from the dead woman in the doorway. He hoped that as he continued to clear rooms he’d be granted reprieve to gather his strength, but if this was only the first challenge in the dungeon, he had no doubts it would only grow more strenuous.

  There were only two doors in this room, one which led to the main entrance hall he’d entered from, and another in the corner which Cassius planned on going through. Shield secured, spear in hand, gladius on his hip, he steadied himself for another immediate attack as he threw open the door.