The blood had a certain stench. I wiped it off myself, but it remained. Great. Now I must look for new clothes.

I stood up, and the mist disappeared. In fact, the whole cave seemed to have changed. The blue coating its inside was gone. The crystals shone with pink and purple colours. Now, they looked like night lamps from a little girl’s room. I could not help, but smile.

Judging by my Ancient Blades knowledge, you earned a Title after clearing every dungeon. Yet, looking into my Journal, I did not see anything new.

Thus, I ventured down the cave once more.

Without the zombies and eerie aura, it was a pleasant walk. I arrived at its end in less than a minute, where a round wall of stone greeted me.

I’ve seen enough movies to know there was a hidden door. I put my hands on the wall and moved them from side to side. Pat, pat, pat. The stone felt oddly smooth around a certain area. I pushed against it and, lo and behold, it made an unlocking sound. The wall suddenly began to shift before me, and the room ahead revealed itself with a large statue inside.

It was different. There was natural light in the room, coming from a barred opening tens of meters above. In front of me was a statue, surrounded by round marble walls. Beautiful, though moss and vine covered most of it.

The statue was of a beautiful woman. Her appearance reminded me of the goddess Venus, from the painting “The Birth of Venus”, but she wore what seemed traditional veils and tunic. I found it strange, how she looked gently at me, like a Christian saint, yet there was almost a hidden lust in her eyes.

“Fucky.” I noted, then looked around.

The little girl was nowhere to be found. That was both good news and bad news. Good news, because I did not have to see the mutilated corpse of a little girl, which truth be told, would have left me with quite the funky PTSD. The bad news, however, is that the girl was still missing.

I looked down at my compass. It pointed towards the statue. More specifically, the item in front of it.

Amidst baskets of fruit, dried marks of blood, and old religious ornaments was a dagger. A steel blade; roots twirled around its base, forming a handle. Reaching out to it, you felt... nothing. It was an ordinary blade, yet so special in appearance, one could not help but be mesmerized.

Taking the blade, a pair of messages appeared before me, the same in appearance as those when I accepted my quest. The first one displayed, “Journal Updated”.

The second one was more interesting.

[ Nightwood Mine cleared! ]
[ New Title: Undead Slayer ]

I grinned with excitement. This was my first title, and I could already feel its effect. A sudden sensation rushed from my toes to head like a wave of pleasure, tickling the top of my brain. It felt good. Real good. Would it be weird to call it a mini-orgasm? Not the sexual kind or anything, just... okay, dumb idea.

I sat down before the statue and leaned with my back against the marble. I took my journal and flipped the pages to find my titles.

There was only one, or rather yet only one.

[ Title: Undead Slayer ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Effects: ]
[ + 5 HP ]
[ + 15% Damage against The Undead ]

“Phew,” I sighed, “Glad to see it’s still the same as in Ancient Blades. At least I know what I’m doing.”

Titles were a part of what made Ancient Blades so fun. Instead of using Class or Profession mechanics, Ancient Blades went against the format and chose to have neither. In this world, your experiences and skills defined who you are. Every quest, every dungeon, and every mission gave you a Title or boosted an already existing one. This helped players remain active and granted a certain satisfaction for every objective completed.

Now that I was inside the game’s world, this whole thing felt even better. I risked my life fighting those unholy abominations, and now I know it was not in vain.

And also, it gave me a mini-orgasm. The non-sexual kind.

My mission here was done. It was time to return to the village and report my findings.

But then again, this place was nice. The statue looked down upon my face with warm eyes, and the forest’s ambiance echoing from above was like listening to the heavens sing.

Thus, I closed my eyes. And enjoyed the moment.