We stood before the entrance in silence, studying the archway of unknown origin, two massive ribs curving toward the sky, cradling the swirling mass of energy within. No cave. No ruins. No towering fortress built around it. Just bones, weathered by time yet still thrumming with power, forming a structure of their own.
The portal nestled between them pulsed like a living thing, blues and greens spiraling inward like an infinite tide, drawing in the cool night air with each slow, rhythmic turn of its colors.
I narrowed my eyes, shifting my weight slightly. From this side, I could see through to the other, but something was off. The far end wavered, just slightly, like looking through a warped mirror. Was it just an illusion? Or did the dungeon actually split based on the side you entered?
The only way to test that theory would be to come back and enter from the opposite direction next time. If we made it back.
A weighty silence hung over us.
“So, uh. We just gonna stand here and admire it, or is someone gonna be the first dumbass to walk in?” Max finally asked. Sarcasm was there, but this time, there was something else, a flicker of unease buried beneath his curiosity.
I met his gaze, then turned back to the monolithic gateway, the cracks in its ancient bones glowing softly, almost like veins pulsing with life.
“Well,” I said, inhaling slow, steady. “We came here to go in. So, I reckon we step through and see what’s waiting for us on the other side.”
I hoped my voice carried more certainty than I actually felt.
I glanced back at Trish, offering her a small smile before turning toward the portal. With a steady breath, I stepped forward, vanishing into the swirling abyss.
WELCOME TO YOUR FIRST DUNGEON, ADVENTURER!
You have entered a Starter Dungeon. The rules within are as follows:
- No time limit – Take your time but stay vigilant.
- Main Quest Completion Required – You cannot leave until the objective is fulfilled. Failure to do so will result in the loss of all experience and items gained.
Good luck, Adventurers! Happy Delving!
YOU ARE NOW ENTERING: THE HALL OF THE FORSWORN.
Objective: Eliminate the three Forsworn Captains.
The Forsworn:
Once knights sworn to defend this realm, the Forsworn betrayed their oaths and turned to forbidden power in their lust for dominion. Cast out and stripped of their names, they now linger as vengeful wraiths, bound to the ruins of their former keep. Each captain represents a fragment of their fallen order’s ideals, Strength, Cunning, and Devotion, now twisted into something far more sinister.
Defeat them and sever their hold on this place…
The keep began to take shape before me, forming from swirling shadows and creeping mist as reality solidified around us. One by one, the others appeared beside me, each stepping through the portal into the dungeon.
A heavy breeze swept through the desolate landscape, carrying dead leaves across the cracked stone path leading toward the keep. Old iron bars swayed open and shut on rusted hinges, creaking with each gust, their wailing groans echoing through the hollow remains of the fortress.
From deep within the walls came a low, agonized moan, something not quite human yet filled with unmistakable suffering. I caught a glimpse of movement beyond the archway, a hunched figure, shambling across the courtyard before disappearing into the murky gloom.
Death clung to this place.
The trees, gnarled and twisted, stood lifeless, yet there was something unsettling about them, as if unseen eyes lingered within their hollowed husks. A crow perched atop the crumbling brick wall let out a harsh caw before taking flight, vanishing into the oppressive sky above.
The stone path stretched before us, leading into the courtyard where the towering keep loomed over everything. At the far end, I could just make out the entrance, perched at the top of a grand, weathered staircase.
“Of course, it’s undead…” Mel muttered.
Leo smirked. “Scared?” His teasing carried an edge, but he didn’t seem entirely at ease either.
Mel shot him a flat look before exhaling through her nose. “No. Just annoyed. I can’t use my phasing abilities against them.” Her tone grew more serious. “Doesn’t matter if I shift into the spirit world or not, they’ll still be able to hit me.”
Leo’s smirk faded. His expression softened with an unspoken apology, which Mel acknowledged with a nod.
I stepped forward, scanning the courtyard carefully. “We need to be cautious. Test the waters before diving in.” I turned to the group, my voice firm. “I’ll see if I can draw that thing out first. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
“Wait. Let me get a top view first,” Trish said, spreading her wings. With a powerful thrust, she launched into the air, rising swiftly above the keep’s walls.
She barely had time to register what she saw before something shot toward her. A dark blur, fast, precise. She twisted midair, narrowly dodging the attack before angling downward in a sharp dive, landing with a controlled skid.
“Well, that didn’t give me much, but whatever that thing is…”
A guttural roar cut her off.
The heavy creak of rusted hinges filled the air as the swinging gateway groaned open. From the shadowed courtyard, a monstrous figure lumbered forward, its movements slow, searching. Its hollow sockets scanned for the culprit it had glimpsed above the walls.
I summoned my shield, my grip tightening around Virellia’s hilt.
Max melted into the shadows. Mel phased through the gate’s opposite side, ready to flank. Leo lifted slightly off the ground, retreating to gain range, while Trish hovered beside him, ready to strike from above.
Virellia’s voice resonated in my mind, steady, determined. “This is where the true tests begin. I am with you, James.”
The creature stepped fully into the open.
A troll, but twisted, corrupted.
Patches of flesh were missing from its skull, exposing cracked bone along its jawline. Its ribs jutted from its decayed torso, and its left hand was nothing but a skeletal claw, flexing unnaturally as if eager to rend flesh from bone.
Its gait was slow, dragging at first, then, in an instant, it was there.
It closed the distance faster than I could react.
A massive, clawed hand swung for me. I barely raised my shield in time, bracing against the impact as the force sent me skidding backward. Dust kicked up around my feet as I dug in, stopping just short of the keep’s outer steps.
Lowering my shield, I exhaled sharply.
I shifted into my defensive stance just as the troll lunged again. This time, I angled my shield to glance the blow, redirecting its force just enough to create an opening. Virellia struck fast, a sharp, whip-like lash against its exposed ribs.
At the same moment, an arrow cut through the air.
The troll swatted it aside without effort, then dodged a crackling bolt of energy from Leo with unnatural speed.
Mel rushed in from the back, hammer raised high, aiming for the beast’s skull. But the troll twisted, far too aware, too precise. A sickening crack rang out as its foot connected with her side, sending her hurtling backward. She slammed into the stone wall with a grunt, rolling to a stop.
The troll didn’t hesitate.
Its soulless gaze locked back onto me.
I inhaled sharply, focusing. I needed to gauge its strength. What level is it?
Nothing.
There was no indicator above its head. No level. No name.
We were truly in the unknown now.
"Get it closer to that tree on the corner. I’m rigging it with explosives." Max’s voice echoed in my mind, sharp with urgency.
The undead troll reacted almost instantly, as if it had heard the plan.
With a shocking display of coordination, it snatched up a massive rock, its jagged surface still damp with rot. It hurled it toward Leo and Trish. At the same time, its skeletal claw swung downward in a brutal arc, crashing against my shield with bone-rattling force.
I dug my heels in, bracing against the impact.
The force nearly buckled my stance, but I held firm.
Even as Mel surged back into the fight, hammer swinging, and Leo fired off another spell, while Trish’s chakrams zipped around, the creature remained relentless. It dodged, deflected, countered, moving like it was anticipating every attack before it even came.
Slowly, I maneuvered the troll, each heavy strike against my shield forcing me to adjust, pivot, and steer it. My arms burned under the relentless barrage, but I focused on footwork, shifting my stance, angling my guard, leading it exactly where I needed.
Another brutal swing. I sidestepped just enough, angling my shield to glance the blow aside, twisting my body to force the troll to compensate.
It snarled, lunging forward with unhinged fury, but I pivoted again, subtly guiding it with every block, every dodge.
Its back was now to the tree, exactly where Max wanted it.
With a sharp inhale, I activated [Astral Wave].
The radiant force rippled outward, causing the undead beast to stumble slightly. Just as it regained its footing, a powerful hum filled the air above us.
Trish.
A wave of energy pulsed through my body, muscles coiling like a tightly wound spring, every fiber thrumming with newfound urgency.
This wasn’t just a burst of speed, it was momentum forged into power, reflexes sharpened to a razor’s edge.
I smirked.
The troll roared in defiance, its movements turning sharper, more erratic. It wasn’t just me who felt the surge. The energy crackled in the air, pulsing through all of us.
It lunged, claws carving through the space between us with vicious intent. I caught the brunt of the assault, steel scraping against bone as I held firm, letting the blows drive me back, exactly where I needed to be.
And then, Mel struck.
She surged forward, her form a blur of motion, the weight of her hammer already swinging. She planted a foot on my back, using it as leverage to vault high into the air. A flash of steel. A blur of motion.
Twisting mid-flip, she brought her hammer down in a brutal arc, the force behind it monumental. The troll reacted, managing to pull one leg back just in time, but not the other.
A sickening crack rang through the night as her hammer found its mark, the impact rippling through the troll’s frame like a shockwave. Bone shattered. Flesh buckled.
And for the first time… the beast staggered.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
That was all the opening Leo needed.
A fireball roared to life in his hands before streaking through the air, smashing directly into the troll’s face. It reeled, hands clawing at the flames, leaving it wide open as we surged forward, striking relentlessly.
Step by step, we forced it back.
"Just a little further," Max’s voice whispered through the shadows.
I echoed his urgency. “Keep pushing!”
The others might not have known exactly why, but they followed my lead, driving the beast back toward the tree.
Then, Max’s voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Back!"
Without hesitation, we leaped away.
An arrow whistled past, its tip glowing with a trail of molten orange light.
Then… boom!
A massive explosion erupted behind the troll.
The force of the blast kicked up a wall of smoke and dust, sending a shockwave that rattled my armor as I planted my shield to steady us. The air pulsed with residual energy, the scent of burning wood and scorched earth filling my lungs.
Silence fell upon the surrounding area, a furious roar echoed shortly after.
The beast emerged from the smoke, leaping toward us.
Its skeletal claws outstretched, its hollow eyes burning with undead rage.
But we were ready.
Mel met it mid-air, launching herself forward.
Three arrows streaked through the night, Max’s aim flawless.
A bolt of lightning crackled as Leo sent a surge of raw energy arcing toward its exposed form.
Everything landed at once.
Mel’s hammer crashed into its skull, Max’s arrows and Leo’s lightning striking its claws, preventing it from countering.
Yet, it wasn’t enough.
The troll lurched, still clinging to its unholy existence.
But then, something else cut through the night.
A spinning, electrified blur.
A lightning-infused chakram tore through the air, slicing clean through the creature’s neck.
Its severed head hit the ground before its body even realized it had lost.
The corpse stood frozen for a fraction of a second, twitching, before finally collapsing into the dirt.
A wave of experience washed through me.
We all let out a collective sigh of relief, the tension from the battle finally easing as the dust settled. A quiet chuckle slipped from my lips, a mix of exhaustion and exhilaration.
“That was just one monster…” Max murmured as he materialized beside me, his voice laced with both awe and concern.
“Aye,” Mel exhaled, rolling her shoulders. “And a bloody scary one at that.”
“I think,” Trish said, still catching her breath, “we should let the stealthy one scout ahead from here on out.” Her wings fluttered instinctively as she shuddered. “I love being able to fly, but nearly getting taken out like that? Not my idea of fun.”
“Good experience, though,” Leo noted, adjusting his gloves. “If this guy gave that much, I can only imagine what the bosses will be worth.” His eyes gleamed with anticipation.
I nodded, running a hand over my armor to shake off the lingering tension. “At this rate, I might be one-o-five before we even leave this place.” A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.
“Well,” Max said, cracking his knuckles, “let’s keep moving. I’ll make sure the courtyard is clear before we charge in.”
Leo scoffed. “If nothing came barreling out after all that racket, I’d be shocked.”
“True,” I admitted, glancing toward the keep. “But it’s a dungeon. Could be some kind of barrier or rule in place preventing a full-on ambush.”
Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Actually… that could be it. If this is a starter dungeon, maybe it has rules in place to ease us in.”
“Possibly,” I said, crossing my arms. “Only one way to know for sure.” I glanced at the looming entrance ahead. “We clear it… and ask later.”
We only had to wait a few moments before Max reappeared, his form materializing from the shadows as he strode toward us.
“Well,” he began, crossing his arms. “Your theory has to be close. There are a few more beasts in the courtyard, but not all like that one.” He jerked a thumb toward the headless troll’s still-twitching corpse. “It’s a variety of undead creatures. That big guy might’ve been the strongest, but looks can be deceiving.”
“Are they grouped or spread out for single pulls?” I asked, already forming a plan.
Max pointed to the west. “Some are clustered together there, wolves, undead humans, all in tight groups. East side, though…” His finger shifted to the opposite side. “A couple of larger stragglers. They wander in loose patterns, but they do cross paths every so often. You’ll want to pull them with caution.”
I exhaled, nodding. “Alright. Stay out here. I’ll see what I can lure out first.”
Turning toward the rusted gate, I peeked inside.
As I peered through the rusted gate, the courtyard stretched before me, a space long abandoned to decay and death. The stone path leading inward was cracked and uneven, with weeds and creeping vines breaking through its surface. Patches of brittle, yellowed grass clung to life in the corners, twisted and skeletal, as if even nature itself had withered under whatever curse plagued this place.
Jagged gravestones jutted from the dirt like broken teeth, some cracked in half, others covered in faded, unreadable inscriptions. A fountain stood at the heart of the courtyard, once an elegant centerpiece but now filled with stagnant, inky water, its stone edges chipped and clawed as if something had tried to drag itself free.
To the west, the remnants of old training dummies stood, their wooden frames splintered and stained dark with age. They had been repurposed by time itself, perches for crows that cawed intermittently, watching from their rotting wooden posts like sentinels of the damned. Beyond them, movement stirred.
Undead wolves prowled between the scattered debris, their exposed ribs heaving with each unnatural breath, their empty sockets glowing faintly with an eerie blue light. Shambling soldiers flanked them, clad in the rusted remnants of armor, swords clutched in skeletal hands that had long since forgotten the art of wielding them.
On the eastern end, near the keep’s collapsed wall, two massive shapes lurked.
Bears. Or what remained of them.
One had an entire section of its torso missing, jagged rib bones poking through torn muscle like grotesque spikes. The other’s skull was half-exposed, the flesh on one side of its face completely peeled away, revealing yellowed, uneven fangs. They moved sluggishly, their decayed bodies barely held together, but there was a quiet malice in the way their heads twitched, their ears flicking toward every subtle noise.
The only problem? None of them were close enough to pull from here.
I stepped back and gestured for the others to follow.
Silent nods. Weapons drawn. A slow advance.
The moment I stepped into range, both bears froze.
Then, their hollow, sunken eyes locked onto me.
A grotesque flap of loose skin from one of the bear’s torn jaws swung upward, momentarily covering one of its milky, dead eyes before slowly peeling away, sagging limply below its mouth again.
I grimaced.
“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Trish muttered.
And then, with a rattling snarl, they charged.
A sudden rustling behind us. More movement.
“Theory was wrong!” Leo shouted.
“Damnit!” I braced myself, widening my stance, falling into tempest.
Chakrams burst out around us, forming a whirling barrier of spinning blades. Trish launched herself high into the air with a powerful thrust of her wings, narrowly dodging a clawed swipe.
"Focus the smaller groups first! I’ll hold these two off!" I shouted, twisting as Virellia’s chain unfurled in my grip.
With a sharp snap, I sent the celestial flail arcing downward. The spiked head struck the first bear’s skull like a meteor, the impact caving it in with a wet crunch. Fragments of bone and rotten flesh splattered across the stone.
I spun, bringing my shield up in time to intercept the second bear’s lunge. Its weight slammed into me, but I dug my heels in, forcing it back.
Then, I lashed out.
Virellia’s head whipped forward like a serpent, the glowing chain trailing behind it. The spiked mass collided with the creature’s exposed temple, and the skull split apart with a sickening crack. The bear’s corpse collapsed in a heap, twitching before finally going still.
A faint pulse of experience filled my core. Not much, but enough to confirm the kills.
I turned just in time to see Mel tearing through the undead ranks, her hammer carving a path through brittle bone and rotted flesh. Leo’s flames washed over them in a wave of searing light, their twisted bodies reduced to ash and dust within seconds.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Trish descended, her wings sending a soft gust of wind across the clearing as she landed beside me. She raised a brow. “Well… that wasn’t nearly as bad.”
"Yeah, I was expecting something far…"
Mel’s words died in her throat.
A low, hollow rattling filled the air.
The bones.
They quivered. Vibrating against the cold stone, shifting unnaturally toward a central point.
Then, a sound cut through the stillness.
A high-pitched cackle, slow and deliberate, slithered from the shadows as a figure emerged from a side door of the keep.
I caught the shift of movement from the corner of my eye. Mel’s grip on her hammer tightened, the metal warping beneath her fingers, shifting into the form of a massive greatsword.
She was ready to cut this bastard down.
But the hooded figure… simply glided toward us, weightless.
A dry, hollow cackle slithered from the depths of its hood, the sound grating and unnatural, like a voice long since abandoned by mortal breath.
A faint glow pulsed beneath the hood’s shadow, not warm like firelight, nor sharp like arcane energy, but something far worse, cold, consuming, endless.
Mel moved first. She blurred, shifting into her ethereal form, vanishing into the veil to reappear behind him…
But she didn’t.
A single hand, thin, skeletal, clad in shifting shadows, shot from the folds of the robe.
Faster than thought.
Faster than light.
It caught her throat mid-shift.
Her form glitched, caught between the material and spirit realm. Her sword fell from her hands, landing with a heavy thud against the stone. She clawed at her throat, struggling, gasping, her ethereal nature useless against his grip.
A wheeze, a desperate inhale, barely a wisp of air.
He was choking the life out of her.
Without hesitation, I charged.
I threw my shield up and slammed into him with full force, expecting resistance, expecting a body, but I passed through him.
Cold.
Not the kind that bites at the skin, not the kind that numbs the limbs.
The kind that seeps into your bones. The kind that steals the breath from your lungs before you realize you’ve stopped breathing.
I spun, skidding to a halt, my shield raised, but the thing barely reacted.
Its form was still standing in front of Mel, hand outstretched, not even acknowledging me. But its robes.
They hung from my shield.
A thin, empty husk, swaying, weightless, severed from the thing inside it.
And there he stood.
The true form.
A spirit of darkness and decay. A figure wreathed in unnatural mist, something half-formed, half-forgotten. His hand never wavered, fingers seemingly locked around Mel’s throat, squeezing, tightening.
Still cackling.
Virellia’s voice cut through my mind, sharp with fury. “Channel your celestial power through me.”
Rage boiled beneath my skin.
I did.
I let the light surge through my veins, through my grip, through the flail’s celestial core.
I charged again, swinging Virellia in a horizontal arc, the flail blurring through the air like a falling star, aiming to tear this thing apart. The strike connected with a resonant crack, sending the spirit hurtling backward, its form twisting violently as it was ripped away. But it didn’t vanish. Not completely.
It drifted across the courtyard, unraveling into mist and shadow. A warped cackle echoed through the air, but the sound fractured mid-laugh, twisting into something else, something colder. Then, a moan, hollow and wretched, not of pain, but grief. The weight of it settled in my chest like a stone sinking into the abyss. I clenched my jaw and shook it off, but the feeling lingered, gnawing at the edges of my thoughts.
Mel hit the ground the moment the grip on her was gone, coughing, gasping, her hands clawing at her throat as though the unseen fingers still lingered. The others closed in around her, a protective wall as she fought for air.
"Mel, are you okay?!" My voice came sharper than I intended, edged with fear.
She wheezed, swallowing a ragged breath before nodding weakly. "Yeah… I… I’m fine."
Max wasn’t. I saw it in the way his fists clenched, in the slow, controlled breath that passed through gritted teeth. Then, in an instant, he was gone. The shadows devoured him without a sound.
Then came his voice.
"You might be able to control when she phases… but you don’t control the shadows."
Except it wasn’t his voice anymore. The shadows had stolen it, warped it into something lower, deeper, something that didn’t belong to him. A slow chill crept up my spine, my instincts bristling.
The spirit bolted. Not away, but toward the pile of bones that had been gathering behind us.
A violent force ripped through the air, howling like a storm as the bones trembled, then rose. Dust spiraled upward in a whirlwind, and the sound of cracking and snapping filled the courtyard as jagged fragments of skeletons twisted and fused. Pieces of armor, rusted and broken, clamped into place as if drawn by an unseen force, binding the bones together into something that shouldn’t exist.
A shape began to take form, shifting, growing, solidifying.
The whirlwind of bones swirled into a monstrous shape, twisting, grinding, fusing together in grotesque harmony. The jagged remains of the fallen latched onto rusted, ancient armor, filling the gaps where flesh once belonged. Plates of corroded iron, shattered chain links, and shattered shields snapped into place with a sickening crunch, as if the very dungeon itself was piecing together something long forgotten.
Then, the storm settled.
A towering form loomed before us.
He was massive, nearly ten feet tall, his hunched frame draped in a shattered cuirass that barely clung to his skeletal form. Thick, splintered ribs jutted out through the rusted metal, pulsing faintly with eerie green light, as though the very marrow inside had rotted into something unnatural. His left pauldron was formed from the fused remains of skulls, their hollow sockets still burning with faint traces of spectral flame. Scraps of decayed cloth hung from his waist, whispering against the dead air.
But the worst was the weapon.
In his right hand, he gripped a massive club—a grotesque, gnarled thing made of fused bones, their jagged ends still slick with old decay, bound together by the iron rings of shields long broken. Some of the bones still bore remnants of rusted shackles, as if they had once belonged to prisoners who never escaped.
He lifted it with ease, resting it against his massive shoulder, the dull creak of old sinew and rusted metal groaning in protest. Then, he spoke, his voice a twisted, mocking growl, a thing both alive and long dead.
"To stand before Captain Vareshi is to forfeit your flesh. But I will take it nonetheless."
His burning gaze swept over us, locking onto me, a horrible grin stretching across his half-formed face.
The moment Captain Vareshi finished speaking, he moved. Fast.
For something so massive, his body should have groaned under the weight of rusted iron and fused bone, but instead, he surged forward in a blur of unnatural speed. The club swung wide, the air screaming as it tore toward me like a battering ram.
I barely raised my shield in time.
The impact was like being hit by a collapsing fortress. My arms buckled. My feet skidded back, carving deep grooves into the dirt. The force sent a shockwave through my entire body, rattling my bones inside my armor.
Don’t… break. I thought to myself.
I grit my teeth and steadied my stance just as Vareshi followed up with a brutal overhead swing. Virellia burned in my grip. I pivoted, slamming my flail into the incoming club. A crack of celestial force exploded outward, shaking the very courtyard.
The bastard didn’t even stagger.
Leo raised a hand, his eyes glowing with Auroralis power. “Move!”
I dove aside as a column of pure flame erupted beneath Vareshi’s feet, swallowing him whole. Fire roared, howled, devoured, but then, something worse.
The laughter.
A deep, echoing cackle rang through the inferno. The flames bent, recoiled, as a decayed, gaunt hand reached through them.
Leo cursed, snapping his fingers. The flames extinguished.
Vareshi stood there, unscathed.
A wicked glow pulsed from within the cracks of his ribs, his skeletal form drinking in the magic like a man savoring a feast.
“Oh… hell no.” Max’s voice came from the shadows, his bow already drawn.
Three arrows shot through the air; each one lined with explosive tags. They struck Vareshi’s chest, embedding deep between the bones, then detonating.
The shockwave sent shattered ribs and molten iron flying, yet when the smoke cleared, Vareshi still stood, hunched slightly, his fingers flexing as bone reknit itself in real-time.
Trish cursed and spun her chakrams to life. “James, what the hell do we do?!”
I braced my shield, my heart hammering. He was too strong. Too fast. Too relentless. Every attack we landed either did nothing or was regenerated in seconds.
We weren’t winning.
Not like this.
Vareshi chuckled darkly, his burning sockets locking onto Mel. “I see you struggle, little shade. You think your kind walks untouched in the veil? I wonder, do you know what happens when a phasing wretch is pulled back into the flesh?”
His massive club suddenly twisted, becoming a spiraling chain of bones.
Then, he hurled it straight at her.
Mel tried to phase, but the moment she shifted into the ethereal realm, something caught her.
A skeletal hand, Vareshi’s hand.
Mel’s eyes widened in terror.
She gasped, her entire body locking up mid-phase. She dropped her sword as she clawed at her throat, struggling for breath. Her eyes bulged, her muscles spasming as her own phasing magic turned against her.
Vareshi smiled wickedly, “I control this realm little one…”