Prologue

Delivery order #72

Client(s): Party of Four, Adventurers

Items Required: Extra Rations (Soaran Meat Preferred)

Delivery Total Cost: 2 Silver Soaran Coins

Location: The Dungeon of the Undead, Galligar, Kori Soaro Kingdom

Estimated Time of Delivery: Noon, two days from creation of order. 

Extra Note From Clients: “Take caution, undead swarm the area. Don’t let them eat our meals! If we die, feel free to help yourself to our food :)”

      A girl with a small piece of paper in her hand, a receipt of sorts, peered closer at it. The darkness of the dungeon made it hard for her to make out the words. Despite that, she chuckled and shoved the paper in her pocket.

      In the middle of the gloomy dungeon was that same girl who walked about as if she were on a stroll through a park. Debris scattered throughout the floor, and the blood of recently slain monsters were still wet, but she didn’t mind that.

      All Charliette Glaciare cared about was the box that hung on her back from its leather straps. Inside of it was the most delectable meal any person could have, which was what made it especially valuable. 

      It had gotten way darker than Charliette had anticipated, and thus she leaned to the side of the dungeon, feeling her way about. A dead monster—or a slain undead in this case—lay sprawled on the floor in front of her. As soon as her foot struck the corpse, she went into a tumble.

      “Wah!” she shrieked as she tripped over the undead monster. She fell right on top of it, feeling its body gradually turn cold. It was dead, yet it was still warm. Unbeknownst to her, she was staring right at what used to be a lively adventurer. An adventurer that became an undead monster.

      “Ahem.” Charliette picked herself off the ground and patted herself down with dignity. A simple fall wasn’t going to stop her from her main objective: to deliver the food on her back to the adventurers exploring this dungeon. She was hot on their trail, if the recently slain undead adventurer was any indication.

      She continued walking up and over the corpse, back into the long corridors of the dungeon. The one she was in was particularly big. Dungeons were usually known for their tight spaces, but the one Charliette was in had ample space to freely move. An advantage of that too was that anything echoed through the long chambers, making it easier for Charliette to hear any incoming monsters. Of course, the same thing applied to herself. She had to shut up if she didn’t want a horde of undead chasing her down.

      That “ahem” came out louder than Charliette had expected. It had reverberated down the corridor, still traveling surprisingly far. The young mage instinctively covered her mouth. No more useless noises! 

      The walls, the ceiling and the floor were all made out of hard cobblestone that were visibly aged. Chunks of some of the stone came out of the walls and scattered over the floors, while the floor itself was riddled with dips where chunks had been ripped out. As a result, Charliette had to be very careful where she stepped. Especially in combat, where falling down like a klutz would get one killed. So she hopped around the holes and stones like she was playing hopscotch. Looking inward, it might not even seem she was in one of the most dangerous dungeons her city had to offer. She was akin to a child playing around in the street as merchants bustled all around them.

      But where were all the monsters? The dungeon Charliette traversed had a reputation for being one of the more dangerous dungeons, partly due to how little it was explored. However, Charliette had little resistance when entering, which puzzled her. As she skipped about quietly, she pondered on that fact, only to come up with one feasible solution. 

      The only thing she could think of was the idea that the adventurers currently in the dungeon along with her were drawing the attention of most of the monsters. The dungeons acted as nests, or hives, to the monsters. So they’d be immediately alerted of anything encroaching on their territories. All of them must have gotten that alert the second the party of adventurers had traversed deep enough into the dungeon and had scrambled to intercept them. 

      As for Charliette, they probably had not deemed her too much of a threat, given her stature. She was a short and thin young girl, not a big and burly ax-wielding warrior. The monsters had probably prioritized most of their forces to eliminate the party of adventurers, the far greater threat.

      Charliette still had to stay vigilant. No way were the monsters going to just let her walk right in without any punishment, and she knew that. She kept one hand against the wall of the dungeon corridor, while having her fingers pointed ahead of her, ready to cast any magic spells. 

      Magic wasn’t something Charliette was particularly skilled in. The only type of magic she bothered to study was Displacement Magic. Displacement magic encompassed all the types of magic spells that involve the movement of an object. Any spell that affects an object’s movement, whether it is making it faster or slower, falls under Displacement magic.

      While she slowly made her way through the dark dungeon, a loud groan shook her to her core. It wasn’t just one, though. What followed that groan were three other almost identical ones. They all echoed down the corridor and slammed right into Charliette’s ears. She shivered. Nobody could mistake that sound, not even Charliette. It was the hungry groans of the undead, and they seemed to draw closer.

      Let’s see, four in total? Not so bad. I got this… I got this. Charliette lightly slapped her cheeks, a ritual she often did right before combat. She didn’t know why she did it, she was just mimicking what the older, more experienced adventurers did.

      “Grah! Ghuu!” the groans drew closer. Way too close. Closer than she had thought they were.

      A single bead of sweat fell down her forehead and was on its way to the cold stone floor. The minute that drop hit the floor, a group of four undead monsters came from one of the intersecting hallways and charged right at Charliette at break-neck speed.

      “Graaaa!” All four of them were undead adventurers. All four of them used to be people. All four of them were like Charliette, wearing mage robes. All four of them yearned for living flesh.

      “Woah!” Charliette’s heart began racing. They weren’t the ambling type of undead she had expected. No, they were running like trained athletes. Worse of all, she couldn’t see them clearly, only their silhouettes. 

      She ripped the box off her back and set it down on the ground. Then she reached for a dagger sheathed at the side of her waist. They were coming, and they were fast.

      The first undead to approach her was promptly cut down, its corpse slumping to the ground as her dagger slashed its head in two. The other one moved so unnaturally on all fours. It dashed towards her like a sprinting panther. 

      It dashed side-to-side before attempting to pounce on Charliette. However,  she raised her hand and pointed a finger right at it.

      “Stasis!” she yelled, and the undead monster froze in place. Another undead monster that followed close behind it had run into its frozen comrade, slamming right into it and dying (again). 

      While the monster was still stuck in place by Charliette’s magic spell, she stabbed it in the skull.

      One more. I can do this!

      She was expecting the last undead person to charge at her like the rest did, but no. It did worse. It shrieked at the top of its lungs, and dozens, possibly hundreds, of different groans could be heard from a distance. They were all on their way towards the young mage. 

      She gulped in terror. That undead had to be eliminated immediately, before it could rally a horde. Knowing that, she made haste for the undead monster still screaming as loud as a siren.

      “Stasis!” She aimed right at the monster. But before the spell could take effect, she was the one to be completely frozen in place.

      What? Dammit!

      The Stasis spell was a part of the Displacement magic family, having the ability of freezing something or someone for a limited time of one minute. However, it had one fatal drawback, that being if the target was already completely still, the caster would be the one frozen instead. That was what happened with Charliette.

      The undead adventurer was smart. The moment it saw her take aim and attempt the Stasis spell, it stopped in place like a statue. It had actively countered her spell. 

      W-what do I do? The undead person stopped screeching and approached her immobilized body. No matter how much she wanted to move, the spell locked her in place with incredible power. 

      There was one spell that reverses the effects of stasis, but it was too exhausting for her to use. Sure, she would have been free from the spell had she used it, but there was no telling if she would have stayed conscious after using it. Either way, she was dead meat.

      “Grah! Grooo!” The monster ran up close to her, conjuring a delighted grin on its decaying face. Its eyes were jet black, not an ounce of life left in it. Its teeth were like that of a canine’s, sharp and fit to tear flesh from the bones. 

      There was nothing she could do. The spell had locked every joint in her body completely still. It was like chains had constrained every part of her body and held them tightly. She was desperate to the point where she was prepared to bank on that one spell to break her free, hoping she’d stay awake after casting it. The undead look at her directly into the eyes, black fluid dribbling down its mouth like saliva. 

      No. Charliette didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to be eaten. She had a job to do, and she didn’t want to die when she gave her word that it would be complete.

      Huffing and puffing mentally, she was ready to cast the spell to break her free. But all of a sudden, the monster’s head gushed up blood and hit the floor so hard that it echoed down the corridor. In the back of its head was a knife sticking out of it.

      “Hey! Guys! There’s someone down there!” A man in clad iron armor stood down the hall across from Charliette. His belt had throwing knives hanging all over it, and he held a broadsword in his hands. He was the one that had thrown the knife at the undead.

      “What really?” other voices echoed down the intersecting corridor. Soon they all skidded around the corner to meet up with the armored adventurer. 

      There were four adventurers in total: two mages, a knight, and a thief. The knight who had saved Charliette’s life began approaching her.

      “Is this our deliverer? Fuck yeah! I was so hungry!”

      “But what’s wrong with her?” One of the mages stepped up to investigate her. “It seems her Stasis spell had backfired. Given how much she charged up that spell of hers, she’d be immobilized for at least five minutes.”

      The other mage walked up beside their fellow comrade. “We don’t have that kind of time, though! You heard those screeches, right? They'll be on top of us any minute now.

      Just as the mage had mentioned that, a flood of undead had poured out of the corridors at quick speed. They all took a battle formation. The Knight led the defense.

      “Christia and I will hold them back! One of you needs to break that spell now! The other should provide support!” Barking his orders, the knight jumped to the front lines along with the thief. Meanwhile, one of the mages walked up to Charliette and placed a hand on her still-frozen shoulder. 

      He closed his eyes and focused before yelling “Disperse!” At that moment, Charliette fell to the ground and began gasping for air.

      “Thank you!” she stared up at the mage, who grinned solemnly. He then turned back to the knight, who began swatting away undead monsters with his sharp sword. 

      “Okay she’s freed!”
      “Great, let's get out of here!” 

      As the knight turned around to leave, the mages backed him up. Both had picked up large stones on the ground and hurled them at the undead. While the stones soared in the air, both of them chanted “Accelerate!” and the stones zipped through the wind like stone bullets. They pierced through dozens of undead before finally being stopped. 

      Everyone turned tail to run, including Charliette. She had picked up her box of goodies and ran alongside the adventurers. Even as they ran for their life, she wanted to complete her mission.

      “Here! I have the food you guys ordered!” She offered the box to the knight as he was in a sprint.

      “You hold on to it! Looks like we’ll be dining in instead!” 

      Thus the cycle continued. The knight and thief cleared a way at the front, while the mages hurled Accelerate spells from the rear to slow down the undead advance. It worked well. Extremely well. Charliette was amazed. They were clearly veterans. But here she was, bested by merely one undead. 

      She couldn’t take that embarrassment. So she tried casting a spell of her own. But when she jumped beside the mages to do so, the horde stopped in their tracks. Were they expecting a stasis spell from her? Not at all. 

      Something appeared from the crowd of dead men. It was a man with gray skin and a tattered mage robe, holding a mage staff.

      This was no ordinary undead. It was the dungeon master.