The descent into Floor 3 wasn't just a step down — it was a shift in reality.

Arthur stepped through the arch, and everything changed.

The air was cold — but not the kind that bit your skin. It was damp, heavy, and old. Like breathing inside a forgotten crypt. The walls pulsed with faint green veins, and twisted roots curled along the stone floors. Mushrooms with glowing blue caps bloomed in clusters. Some twitched as he passed.

It smelled like metal and rot.

“Aeon,” Arthur whispered, dagger in hand, “what’s different here?”

“This floor feeds off death,” Aeon replied. “Everything here is dying — or trying not to.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes.

He wasn’t here to die.

The blade at his side vibrated — more alive than ever. The kill count read 43. Seven more to unlock the next stage. Seven more souls.

He didn’t have to wait long.

From the cracks in the walls slithered the first wave — hunched figures with bone-white faces and spines like jagged thorns. Long arms, twitchy fingers. Their eyes reflected no light.

There were five of them. Coordinated. Watching.

One screamed — and they all charged.

Arthur exploded into motion. Shadowstep. Blink. Dodge.

He drove the dagger into the first creature’s stomach — and felt the dagger pulse.

The energy from the kill rushed into him — a hot, sharp sensation that spread through his chest like wildfire.

[Kill Count: 44]
[HP Recovered: +8]

“Whoa…” he muttered, staggering back as the next creature swiped at him. “That’s new.”

“The dagger’s evolving,” Aeon said. “It’s begun to leech. A vampiric hunger, returning the life it takes.”

Arthur didn’t hesitate. He grinned.

Two more beasts fell in rapid succession. He weaved through their wild strikes, cutting tendons, driving the blade deep — every kill fed him. Made him faster. Stronger.

[Kill Count: 47]
[HP Recovered: +16]

Then came the shrieker.

It towered above the others, with gnarled arms and a single, large eyeball. It unleashed a sonic screech that rattled the stones.

Arthur rolled, launched the dagger in a spinning arc — it stabbed into the thing’s chest. He blinked forward, grabbed the hilt mid-motion, and twisted.

The creature collapsed, its essence pouring into the blade and into him.

[Kill Count: 48]
[HP Recovered: +12]

He killed two more, barely breathing hard now. He was buzzing.

[Kill Count: 50/50 – Milestone Reached]
[Soulbound Weapon – Upgrade Unlocked]
[New Trait: Vampiric Edge – Leech 10% of damage dealt as health]
[Dagger Renamed: Eclipsfang]

The metal shifted in his hand. The dagger grew longer, the hilt twisting like sinew. Red lines pulsed along the blade. It was no longer just a tool — it was a predator.

Aeon’s voice dropped low, almost reverent.

“It’s bound to your soul now. The more blood it drinks, the more it gives back.”

Arthur didn’t even have time to process.

The stone walls groaned.

A massive gate creaked open at the end of the chamber, and from it… the boss emerged.

It was monstrous.

Eight feet tall. Armor made of bone and dark metal. Glowing green veins pulsed across its body like it had stolen life from a hundred corpses. Its face was a cracked porcelain mask with tusks. Two glowing blue eyes stared straight through him.

It let out a deep, echoing roar — and charged.

“Dungeon Boss Detected: Soul Reaper Alpha”

Arthur gritted his teeth, dodged left, then blinked behind using Shadowstep.

He slashed the back of its leg — but the blade bounced off its armor.

“Too tough,” Aeon warned. “Try softer joints. Under the arms. Neck.”

The Reaper spun with a backfist — Arthur barely ducked.

He used the momentum to dash under its legs, came up behind it, and stabbed upward into the armpit. The blade sank.

Blood — thick and black — spilled as Veindrinker pulsed, stealing strength.

[HP Recovered: +32]

Arthur growled through the pain and dodged another smash that cracked the stone floor. One wrong move and he was dead.

He kept moving, cutting along the exposed joints — feeding the dagger and fueling himself.

Each strike that landed made him faster.

Smarter.

Hungrier.

The Reaper roared again — this time a pulse of necrotic energy burst outward, sending Arthur flying into a wall. He coughed blood.

“Arthur, your body’s failing—”

“Then I’ll push it,” he hissed, standing. “One more move.”

He focused. Pulled all the will he had into the dagger — and charged.

At the last second, he shouted:

“Aeon — now!”

Time slowed. The Reaper raised its blade to finish him.

Arthur blinked directly behind the beast.

And drove Veindrinker into its neck.

The creature spasmed — howled — and fell with a thunderous crash.

Black mist bled from its body and rushed into the dagger.

[Dungeon Boss Defeated – Floor 3 Cleared]
[Dagger Evolved: Eclipsfang – Vampiric Core Activated]
[New Passive: Leech – 20% of all damage converted to HP]
[New Ability Unlocked: Conceal]

[Conceal – Active: Become invisible and silent for 5 minutes. All movement and actions are soundless. Cooldown: 6 hour]

Arthur collapsed to his knees, chest heaving. His body was bruised, bleeding, but not broken.

The dagger, resting in his palm, pulsed softly.

Alive.

And deadly.

He’d survived three floors of death and mystery. But something inside him whispered —

This was just the beginning.

The dungeon floor was still.

The boss's massive corpse — some hybrid of an armored ghoul and serpent — lay sprawled, its blackened blood seeping into the stones. Arthur stood over it, breathing heavily, his shirt torn and soaked with sweat. The wound on his ribs had already begun to close — Eclipsfang pulsed faintly in his hand.

[Dagger Kill Count: 50/50 — Milestone Reached]
[Eclipsfang Upgraded!]
New Passive Ability Unlocked: Vein Leech
Heals you for a portion of the damage dealt. Fatigue chance added.

[Personal Ability Unlocked: CONCEAL]
You are invisible and undetectable for 5 minutes. Cooldown: 6 hours.

He fell to one knee, exhausted but grinning.

"I could get used to this," Arthur muttered.

Aeon’s voice chimed in. “This dungeon trial was meant to test patience, endurance, and silence. You passed with sheer aggression. That works too.”

Arthur wiped blood from his cheek, stood tall, and slid Eclipsfang back into its sheath.

The blade didn’t just glow anymore — it breathed. Like it was part of him.