“You said… a dungeon?”

Alice nodded, her eyes still fixed on the glowing screen floating in front of her.

[Main Quest – The Temple of #@€&(!?#]
Objective: Explore the ruins of the Temple of #@€&(!?# located 1 km northwest of your camp.
Rewards: Experience, rare weapon, rare equipment, Medallion of #@€&(!?#

“That’s what the system says,” she confirmed. “The name’s still glitched, like that weird title of mine. But if it’s what I think, this is a real test.”

Golly tilted his head, one hand rubbing his stone chin.

“A temple, yes. I know it. Old, crumbling, moss-eaten. Northwest. Not far from here.”

“You think that’s the one?”

“I know this forest like I know my legs. And I’ve known my legs for a long time.”

Alice smiled.

“Then let’s go.”

They advanced cautiously. The forest was deceptive, even for Golly. The thick trees seemed to whisper, and the shadows sometimes shifted without cause. After half an hour of walking, the branches grew closer, the light dimmer.

The temple appeared at the top of a rocky hill. Half-collapsed, its shattered columns lay scattered like fallen stone corpses. Weather-worn carvings still adorned the walls, depicting a goddess with open arms.

But it wasn’t the architecture that caught Alice’s attention.

It was the shapes.

Five armored skeletons stood in the clearing. Silent. Motionless. And yet… alive. Or at least, animated.

“Undead,” she murmured. “I haven’t faced any before.”

She activated her Inspection skill.

[Armored Skeleton – Level 22]
Type: Undead / Warrior
Resistance: Low to magic / slashing damage
Weakness: Blunt damage / Light magic

“All right,” she said. “Let’s try our first real teamwork.”

“I strike hard, but slow. You distract. Flank. I can make the earth drop beneath them.”

“Perfect.”

She got ready.

The fight began. The skeletons stirred all at once, weapons raised, their empty eye sockets glowing with a sickly green light. Alice ran in a wide arc, swift as an arrow. One of the undead lunged with a thrust; she ducked under and launched:

“Terrae!”

A mound of earth erupted beneath the skeleton’s legs, knocking it off balance. Golly followed up. His fist slammed into the creature’s skull. Bones flew. Another skeleton came from the left—Alice hit it with a gust of wind.

“Zephyra!”

The blast sent it flying into a wall. Golly raised a stone wall, sealing off two more enemies.

The last skeleton swung a rusted axe. Alice barely dodged, slashed back with her dagger, then retreated. Two versus five, but their coordination was on point.

Minutes later, all that remained were broken bones and shattered armor. They moved on to clear the temple’s exterior.

You have defeated: Armored Skeleton – Level 22 x25
Congratulations, you earned +280 XP!

Alice was panting, but smiling. Their first real fight as a duo, and they’d done well.

The inside of the temple was darker, its foundations still intact. Damp stone sweated along the walls. The air was thick with mold and ancient dust. They moved carefully, Alice in the lead, Golly behind. Silent and heavy.

New enemies soon emerged. Slow. Massive. Dripping with a greenish, oily sludge. Worse, they came in an endless wave.

[Zombies – Level 25]
Type: Undead / Infected
Traits: Minor poison, swarm attacks, low intelligence

They came two or three at a time, stumbling, but with surprising force. The first blow cracked a stone tile beneath Alice’s feet. She barely dodged and launched a gust to push it back.

“They’re tough…” she gasped. “And they reek of death.”

“I’ll block. Aim for heads or legs,” Golly replied.

She obeyed. While the golem raised stone pillars to split the groups, Alice darted from foe to foe, exploiting their sluggishness. She blinded one with wind, slashed the knees of another, and finished off the crawling ones with quick precision.

Golly stood like a wall. Any zombie that got close was smashed by his massive fists. He summoned shifting ground, making zombies fall onto jagged stone spikes.

They fought like that for over an hour. The battles dragged on, fatigue creeping in.

Near the end, one bit Alice’s forearm as she tried to retrieve her dagger. She screamed, stabbed it in the eye, and staggered back. Golly grabbed her collar and yanked her out of harm’s way, then began smashing the last zombies like a giant playing whack-a-mole.

You have defeated: Zombies – Level 25 x25
Congratulations, you earned +280 XP!

They took a short break in an alcove. Alice cleaned her wound and wrapped it in detoxifying herbs. Golly stood watch, eyes glowing in the dark.

The main hall held only a shattered altar. Behind it, a cracked wall. Alice’s sharp gamer eye noticed a lighter-colored tile.

She pressed it.

“Bingo.”

A low grinding sound echoed. A spiral staircase opened in the stone, descending into darkness.

“Sacred places always like to hide things,” Golly muttered.

They went down.

The crypts were worse. The stone oozed corruption. The air was rancid, full of stale, ancient breath. Runes etched along the walls pulsed faintly with violet light.

Alice’s hair stood on end.

Ghouls emerged from the dark. Slimy. Emaciated. They came alone or in pairs—but were faster than anything they’d fought so far. Their eyes glowed with a diseased hunger.

[Ghoul – Level 27]
Type: Undead / Stalker
Damage: Lacerations, moderate poison
Abilities: Regeneration, Ghoul Breath

They climbed walls, clung to ceilings, flanked and ambushed. Their flesh dripped with acidic poison. The fight turned into guerrilla warfare.

Alice dodged and countered, but her spells lost effectiveness. Wind alone didn’t slow them enough. She had to weaken them, then run, circle, strike once, then back off. Her mana dwindled fast.

Golly fought like a besieged fortress. His stone-covered fists shattered skulls, but the ghouls kept coming. Once, he used a quake spell, shattering the floor and tossing a creature into a pit. But it drained him. He was slowing down.

“Behind you!” Alice cried.

She shoved a ghoul away before it could claw his back. The beast leapt at her, and she rolled, stabbed its throat, then screamed as poison burned her skin.

They retreated to a sealed side crypt. There, they treated their wounds, caught their breath, and regained mana. Then dove back into the fray.

And so it went, for hours.

One by one, they hunted the undead stalkers.

You have defeated: Ghouls – Level 27 x15
Congratulations, you earned +168 XP
Congratulations, you leveled up!

At last, they reached the final room.

The crypt was vast. Giant pillars supported a partially collapsed ceiling. Broken coffins lay scattered. A crumbling statue of a veiled woman stood at the far end, arms wide as if welcoming something, her face shattered.

Behind her, a ruined altar. Time stood still. Around them, magical torches lit with a greenish glow.

Alice narrowed her eyes.

“This goddess… I don’t recognize her. She’s not in your old master’s book on the Seven Gods.”

Golly stepped closer to the statue’s base.

“She’s unlike the Seven Great Ones. Too many arms. And the eyes… they’re closed.”

Alice activated Inspection.

[Statue of the Goddess – ???]
Origin: Unknown
Analysis: Structure magically corrupted by #@€&!?#.

Silence fell again. Alice looked around.

“If this were a game, this would be the perfect spot for a boss.”

A red light flashed. Runes flared to life. Black mist oozed from the floor. A lich emerged from the shadows. Wrapped in tattered red and black, its flesh was dry and cracked. Its eye sockets burned crimson. Around it, ten undead figures rose.

Ding!

Elite: Lich (Level 30)
Skills: Undead Summoning, Dark Magic
Very high magic resistance.
Entity provided to the Cult by #@€&!?#.

Alice swallowed.

“Great. Should’ve kept my mouth shut…”

She gripped her dagger. Golly was already in position.

“Little Alice, you’re good at predicting things. Sometimes I wish you weren’t.”

The lich screamed a piercing, unnatural shriek.

“I’ll handle the summons,” Golly said. “You take the boss. I’ll catch up.”

The ground cracked. Spikes impaled two undead. Golly pivoted, fists surrounded by flying debris.

The lich raised a hand. A dark energy orb shot at Alice. She rolled, barely dodged, shards cutting her arm.

“Zephyra!”

A gust deflected the second attack. Alice rushed in, zigzagging. But as she cast a wind spell up close, it was absorbed by an invisible barrier.

Active Spell: Soul Screen – Absorbs magic

She cursed.

“Of course… no magic.”

She tried flanking. The lich raised pillars of shadow. A necrotic blast hit her gut. She dropped to her knees, blood pooling.

“Shit! I can’t use magic from afar, and I can’t get close either!”

“Hold on!”

Golly had finished the undead. His body was riddled with bone shards, but he charged, unleashing a seismic shock. The Soul Screen wavered. Alice sprang up, slashed. Once, twice, three times. The lich shrieked. It cast a spell. A black explosion. Golly blocked it. His left arm shattered.

“GOLLY!”

“It’s… broken. Not a big deal.”

He wobbled but stood. Alice, breathless, eyed a weakened column.

“Zephyra!”

The wind roared. The column collapsed in a cloud of dust and rubble. The lich screeched, its arms twisted, its eye-flames flickering.

But it wasn’t over.

A black aura burst out, blasting debris away. Alice slammed into a pillar, wincing.

“She’s… regenerating?!”

Indeed. Dark tendrils reknit bones, restored her ribcage.

“She’s drawing on ambient magic!” Golly shouted. “We need to finish this fast!”

Chains of shadow lashed from the ground. One grabbed Alice’s ankle. Another pinned Golly.

“No way we’re starting over!”

Her instincts kicked in. A twist. A dagger slash. A wind burst. She slid, rolled, saw the gem inside the lich’s chest.

“If you want my magic… take it all!”

She focused the magic around the dagger. Wind howled around her. The compressed spell vibrated like a storm in a bottle.

“ZEPHYRA!”

Her dagger, wind-launched, shot through the air like a bullet and pierced the lich’s chest right into the gem. The lich howled, a shriek that shattered glass and skulls alike. Energy erupted. The gem exploded. The lich staggered. Golly raised his only arm and smashed an entire pillar down on her.

The floor crumbled and the lich with it.

Ding!

Success
You have defeated the Lich!
+875 XP
You have completed the Main Quest!
+1050 XP
You leveled up x2!
You obtained: Swiftblade Rapier (Rare), Dark Leather Armor (Rare), Medallion of #@€&(!?#

Alice gasped. The ground still trembled. Golly staggered. His missing arm revealed cracked clay layers.

“Nice shot.”

“Thanks!”

She nodded to his missing arm.

“Will you… be able to fix that?”

“With time… Not the first time.”

She sighed, then pointed to the lich’s broken gem.

“Too bad about the loot. That was probably worth a fortune.”

Golly shrugged.

“The treasure is us being alive.”

She chuckled softly. Then noticed a medallion among the lich’s rags. As she touched it, a voice echoed in her mind. Clear. Feminine. Regal.

“Alice… child of destiny. Come to me, deep in the forest.”

Character Sheet

Name: Alice Vanberg
Race: Vampire
Class: None
Level: 23
Experience: 555 / 760

Titles:
– Fallen Noble (Charisma -5)
– Survivor (Strength +1 / Constitution +2)
– Gifted Mage (Mastered two elements) (+2 Intelligence)
– #@!?#& (???)

Stats:
– Strength: 13 (2 +1 [Survivor] +10 allocated)
– Constitution: 15 (3 +2 [Survivor] +10 allocated)
– Agility: 38 (8 +30 allocated)
– Intelligence: 47 (15 +2 [Gifted Mage] +30 allocated)
– Charisma: 19 (14 -5 +10 allocated)
– Luck: 12 (2 +10 allocated)

Magic:
– Wind Element – Level 6
– Earth Element – Level 5
– Blood Magic – Level 1 (active for 20 min after feeding)

Skills:
– Survival Instinct – Level 3
– Common Language – Level 20
– Inspection – Level 3
– Accelerated Casting – Level 5
– Dismantling – Level 5
– Cleaning – Level 4
– Dagger Mastery – Level 6
– Tracking – Level 3

Equipment:
– Swiftblade Rapier (Rare)
– Dark Leather Armor (Rare)
– Medallion of #@€&(!?# (bound, unknown)

15 unallocated attribute points