Is It Weird to Refine Spirits in Dungeons? Chapter 6

Holocure Spirit Refiner

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 6: Exploring Limits

Hmmm… this is harder than I expected. I sighed as I looked over my notes. I’m reminded of my initial experience with Path of Exile…

Years ago, when I first started the game, I carelessly didn’t take into account the mana cost of skills going up as the skill gem increased in level. In the end, my character’s mana couldn’t sustain my playstyle. Rather than waste time trying to fix it, I decided to start over with a new character build.

Similarly, I just discovered that I was having trouble keeping up with the maintenance cost for my spirits. If I wanted to upgrade them any further, my options were to either work harder by making more dives to support them, or to give up one of my current spirits so that I could focus on the others. That was the reason why I didn’t summon Ollie using her sword, which was currently resting on the shelf in the ritual room. 

In my free time between dungeon dives, I came up with a brief classification for each spirit I had so far. Each of them had the minimum upkeep to keep them in my service, a deployment cost I had to pay each time we went to a dungeon, and other contract conditions that varied greatly.

Spirit: Mumei
Upkeep Cost: 5 Levels worth per venture
Deployment Cost: Slay 200 enemies per venture
Contract Condition: 1 day off after 3 days of use

Spirit: Anya
Upkeep Cost: Small whetstone every 20 ventures
Deployment Cost: None
Contract Condition: Only usable during daylight hours, no consecutive dives, unlock all abilities by next week

Spirit: Gura
Upkeep Cost: 2 handfuls of chum a day
Deployment Cost: Endure a chomp on the hand
Contract Condition: Provide a pool of water to swim in at home by next week, provide a meal during dungeon ventures

Spirit: Fubuki
Upkeep Cost: 15 Levels worth per week
Deployment Cost: 4 ears of corn per venture
Contract Condition: Engage her in 1 game every 2 days

Spirit: Fauna
Upkeep Cost: A cup of peach tea with no milk or sugar every 3 days, 4 Levels worth per week
Deployment Cost: Two fruits per venture
Contract Condition: Collect 1 harvest every week

Mumei was getting expensive to use, and her requirements meant that I couldn’t take her into dungeons with a limited number of monsters. Anya was the cheapest, since her level of strength was the lowest among the spirits, and while her use was limited, I didn’t have to pay a deployment cost for her. Gura was also easy to provide for, though her bites were painful even if they didn’t leave any physical marks. Fubuki was the second highest leveled after Mumei, but her abilities made up for her cost. Lastly, Fauna’s upkeep required me to interact with the garden on a regular basis, so that wasn’t too bad.

I had no idea what some of the spirits whose summoning reagents I already had would want for their upkeep. If I was lucky, they would just want a certain amount of spirit energy, or some simple food, but if not… 

PINGPONG~

I jerked in surprise, not expecting the doorbell to ring given the whole seclusion thing about this place. It took me a moment to realize who it had to be, and went to open the door to her.

Sure enough, Lauracie was there. Her clothes were a slightly different color this time, but her sunglasses were a sharper, more stylish model.

“Good morning,” She greeted me, “Have you gone into the dungeon yet today?”

“No, but I’m planning to later. What’s the matter this time?”

“I just came for a routine check.”

“Oh, okay. Come on in.” I stepped aside to make way for her.

It was a bit of a surprise to realize how out of touch I was in playing host to other people, though I did eventually recall to serve tea and snacks without having to be reminded. Since peach tea was one of the requirements to uphold Fauna’s contract, I made sure to keep a good stock of it through Shopee, and I made use of that now.

She took a sip from her cup. “Not bad… but you could practice more.”

“I have no idea how,” I admitted. “It’s not like I have access to the Internet here. Also, I don’t really have the time to practice.”

“At least make an effort.”

“I’ll try.” I said non committedly. “By the way, I have a few questions…”

“Go ahead and ask,” She replied with some amusement.

As expected, there was a limit for me to stay out of the house, and exceeding that would see me drawn back to it, with that dungeon dive considered a failure unless I had already cleared the objectives. The way she explained it, the contracts I had with the spirits sustained them indirectly, and the dimensional difference cut that off. However, it was possible for me to upgrade the house; by getting some spirit energy collectors, I could extend how long the spirits could last without my presence, and thus extend the time I could spend in a dungeon.

The next thing I asked about was why some dungeons were so similar to that of fictional series I encountered before, but the only answer I got was that it’s due to my experiences influencing the multiversal link system that controls the gate. 

“So that means, I can get linked to the Danmachi setting too?” I asked about one of my favorite fiction series that I knew was still ongoing before I died.

“Yes, that’s correct. Though the deities there are rather annoying to deal with.”

“How so?”

“The majority of them are busybody hedonists, and that is all I will say.”

“Oh.”

There was a brief lull as we drank our tea.

“Do you have any other questions?” Lauracie asked me.

“Any tips for managing the number of spirits to hold in this house?”

A smirk appeared on her lips. “I was expecting you to reach this point by now.”

I’m not sure how I should feel about that, but I feel like she’s going to spring something on me. “What do you mean?”

“You are having trouble maintaining your spirits, aren’t you?”

“...yes,” I admitted.

“Then you will be pleased to hear that I have a solution to solve that issue.”

“What is it?”

“Dispatching the spirits out to assist others.” Lauracie saw the look on my face, and continued, “No need to worry about them being abused or anything negative like that. I guarantee that they will be taken care of.”

“I need more details than that.”

Lauracie’s suggestion was just like one of those dispatch missions in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I would receive requests through a minor spirit, and make my decision on which spirit to send out to fulfill them. Apparently there was a chance of failure, but that was unlikely to happen unless I purposely chose a spirit that was incompatible with what the requester was asking for. The hard look Lauracie gave me after she finished saying that made me very determined to not do such a thing.

With her assistance, I called up the spirit. Then stared at it for nearly a full minute.

“Um, is there a problem, mister?” The spirit asked me, its voice sounding like a young child.

I finally shook my head. “Oh, no, no. Just thought that you… have a very strong resemblance to something I know.”

“Ah, that’s probably because the forms of us spirits are influenced by your subconscious during the summoning.” It explained. “May I know how you would like to address me, mister?”

That probably was due to me making the comparison to FFTA, that the spirit took on the appearance of a moogle from that game. Not a small one either, but the large one that was half my height.

“Is Recep okay?” At least it’s not ending its sentences with ‘kupo’.

The spirit nodded, the red furry ball hanging over its head bobbing as well. “Recep will be my name then. May I explain how I will perform my role, mister?”

“Go ahead.”

The explanation took a while, and my attention span began to wane as it wore on. I even caught Lauracie giving me amused looks, like she was enjoying my suffering as I tried to make sense of all the details involved in dispatching a spirit. Just as she had told me, by sending the spirit to perform one of these help requests, I would lose access to that spirit for a period of time. In exchange, I would not have to pay her upkeep costs for that period, and she would return with some form of rewards that I could put to my own use. 

There wasn’t any limit to how many spirits I could dispatch either, though that was dependent on the number of requests coming in. If I had no requests, then too bad for me. Obviously, if I dispatched all my spirits, I would have no one to support me in the dungeons, and would have no choice but to just wait at home until one returned.

Recep assured me that there would always be at least one request at any time, and invited me to attempt dispatching one. After some hesitation, I decided to proceed with it.

The way Recep displayed the list of requests was similar to how Shopee did the same with its catalog, and I quickly looked through the four of the requests present before picking one.

[Pest Extermination: Mumei]

Given her feathers’ ability to home onto enemies, and her hidden nature, this was the perfect task for her to do. She would be gone for a few days, but there was no description of what sort of rewards to expect upon her success. After conveying my decision, I called out to Mumei.

“Oh hi!” Mumei came flying through the doorway, landing in front of me.

She looked at all three of us, before turning to face Recep. It looked like they were communicating silently, probably through some spirit-only method. After a while, she nodded and turned to face me. It looked like she was waiting for something.

“Be safe out there, Mumei. We’ll be waiting for you to come back, okay?”

She smiled and nodded. “Bye, see ya!” 

I couldn’t help smiling at that cheerful farewell. “Bye, Mumei.”

Mumei turned around, and hopped onto the request form Recep was holding. She sank into it, leaving her emblem on the paper, and the moogle tucked it away.

“Thank you for accepting the request, mister. I will send her off right away.” Recep looked around. “Do you mind if I made a small request of my own, mister?”

“What is it?”

He asked for a small desk counter where he could appear and present requests to me when called upon, like a reception desk. That was easily done, and Shiraken had it handled in an instant. There was even a desk bell for me to ring to call Recep when I wanted to consult him.

“Thank you very much. Well then, I’ll be off. Miss, mister.” He nodded to Lauracie, then to me, and vanished behind the counter.

I turned to the goddess, then finished off the remainder of my cold tea. She did the same.

“So, is there anything else other than this?”

She shook her head, her lips curved in a small smile. “Just keep up the good work. You will get rewarded as your efforts deserve.”

“That does not sound reassuring,” I pointed out.

Lauracie tilted her head as if saying ‘that’s how it is’, and left without saying anything more. As I was trying to wrap my mind around these new developments, the other spirits came floating into the room.

“Friend, bye?” Foob came by to ask, looking around the room.

“Yes, that’s right,” I crouched down to pat her on the head.

“Uuu~” Fauna made a sound like a sad whine.

“Auuu~” Gura did the same.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon,” I reassured them. “Let’s keep working hard too, okay?”

My words seemed to spark a new determination in them, and they each voiced their agreement.

“Then, let’s get started on today’s dungeon!”

Looking at the list of requirements for my spirits, my current objective was to gather enough spirit energy to pay for Gura’s pool, and I could also finish unlocking the rest of Anya’s abilities while pursuing that. With those in mind, I decided to pick a tougher dungeon this time.

[Depths of Terror Dungeon]

Wow, I must be out of my mind to pick something like this. Just the name alone promises a lot of trouble. I scanned through the description, which mentioned a lot of enemies and a few other dungeon adventurers. Huh. It actually starts in a village, and the dungeon itself… is located beneath a church? That… sounds like a weird place for a dungeon to be. But the rewards for this are so much more.

Since I had already made up my mind, I selected it and went through the gate after confirming my build with Anya. 

It was brightly lit at home, but the place I arrived at was in the midst of twilight, casting everything in a bluish tint.

“Are you okay like this, Anya?” I knew she wasn’t exactly the most active after sundown.

Assurance. Anya didn’t mind the current time of the day; it was the time at home that mattered for our contract.

“Alright then.”

I followed the dirt path I appeared on, heading for the village in the distance. Off to the side, I could see a cemetery with multiple gravestones, but it didn’t look like there was anything out of the ordinary there. Since the walk was taking a while, I quickly checked the list of the objectives to clear.

In an unusual twist from what I was used to, there were several blank ones with the details concealed. The ones that I could read were simple ones like obtaining a Unique treasure, gathering a certain amount of gold, and reaching the 5th floor. There was also a note telling me that doing these three would apply a checkpoint, allowing me to resume from that point onwards.

So it was a rather deep dungeon that I could attempt over several tries. A worthy challenge indeed.

I dismissed the window as I finally entered the village. Judging by the wooden construction of the buildings, which could be counted on both hands, it was in the medieval times, not to mention the rustic clothing of the villagers I could see. There was a well in the center with a man standing by it, and I decided to approach him first.

The dark-skinned old man was bald on top, but had a long white beard that grew from the sides downwards, and his blue robe looked in rather good condition.

Oh. I think I recognize this place. Of all places… My steps faltered slightly, before I found more courage within myself to continue on.

“Hello, my friend. What brings you to this humble village of ours?” He greeted me as I drew closer.

I was a bit lost at what to answer at first, but eventually came up with an answer. “I seek treasure.”

“I would caution you against trying your luck here,” He solemnly warned, “Our village has seen dark days, and things have only gotten more dangerous.”

I decided to change the topic. “I appreciate the warning. Who are you?”

“My name is Deckard Cain, I am the elder of this village of Tristram.”

My fears were confirmed; this really was the setting of Diablo, the first game in the series. Still, I wasn’t going to back down now. While it looked like Cain could see through me somewhat, I proceeded to ask a few more questions about the recent events that had befallen Tristram.

The archbishop had roused the men of the village into a mob to go rescue their missing prince, only for many of them to die within the catacombs, and the few survivors barely escaping with their lives, not to mention the lingering damage to their minds. That was the beginning of the whole setting, though Cain also told me that there were other adventurers intending to get to the bottom of the whole issue.

He advised me to wait for them, but I decided otherwise, so the old man reluctantly gave me directions to the cathedral where the dungeon awaited me.

As I walked off, a quick glance over my shoulder noted another dark-skinned man approaching Cain, this one carrying a long staff. 

Anya kept sending me quiet reassurance as we approached the large stone structure, which did help my mental state. That was probably why I wasn’t as shocked when I saw the badly wounded man lying on the path just outside the entrance. He stirred weakly at my presence, fixing almost unseeing eyes on me. From the looks of his wounds, it would take a miracle to save him, something I didn’t have.

“Please, listen to me,” He said hoarsely.

He told the tale about how the archbishop Lazarus had led the village’s men to find the lost prince, only to lead them into a trap that saw most of them killed by a demon called The Butcher. 

“Avenge us! Find this butcher and slay him… so that our souls… may finally rest…” 

His head fell back as his life expired, having been spent on those last words.

Resolution. Anya’s response was like sharpened steel.

I agreed, turning to enter the cathedral. “Let’s go, Anya. Stay inside, don’t come out.” 

Acknowledgment. Perhaps she felt my fear about what might await us, but she didn’t object.

The interior of the place was eerie and almost silent, lit by candles and torches. If not for Anya’s presence in my mind, I would probably have noped out of there as soon as I could. As things were, I used her power to slay every monster that crossed my path, their lives easily extinguished by her keris. Bats, skeletons, imps, goat demons… all of them yielded spirit shards that I absorbed to enhance Anya’s strength.

I had some worries that she might be corrupted by gaining spirit energy from such corrupt sources, but she showed no sign of change in her personality even as her weapons grew in strength. 

There were a few item drops and treasure chests along the way, but I didn’t find anything noteworthy to bring along with me, other than a simple sword and shield to arm myself with, and the various potions and scrolls I tucked away into my bag. 

I eventually found the stairs descending to the next floor, and was about to go down it when I heard someone call out to me from behind. 

“Ho there, I beseech you to wait!”

Turning around, I saw the staff-wielder from earlier, carefully approaching me.

“Yes?”

“You seek to slay the evil that dwells within the depths of this place, do you not?” He asked, to which I nodded, “Then allow me to join you in your efforts. Our powers combined will surely prevail.”

The man with the bombastic speech style was the Sorcerer Jazreth, and he knew several magic spells that were capable of dealing death to any monsters in our way. While he was slightly pudgy, there was muscle beneath the fat, as evidenced by the way he beat several monsters to death with his staff when they got too close. But the magic was definitely more incredible to see; fire and holy bolts, and the charged bolts that sent moving webs of electricity scurrying across the floor.

Knowing what I did of how his mage order viewed demons and spirits, I explained that I came up with my own brand of magic to explain the spirit weapons I was using, instead of revealing Anya as the source. He did inquire about the possibility of me teaching him some of them, but I respectfully demurred. 

Despite that, Jazreth was not offended by my rejection, instead explaining how he sought to expand his knowledge of magic, particularly the spellbooks that hailed from the time of the Horadrim. There were rumors of how such books could be found in the depths of dungeons like these, carefully stored away by the people who built the place.

As if by coincidence, the room we entered had a bookshelf near the corner, and he found a Book of Firebolt right there. After what he said about being hungry for arcane knowledge, I wasn’t surprised to see him immediately open it up and read through it, absorbing the information within. When he passed me the tome afterwards, I saw that the writings within had faded to the point of illegibility. Jazreth explained it as how the Horadrim passed down information to their acolytes efficiently.

And it also explains why the damn things are one-use only. Not a very good way of passing down information, if your method only works for one person. “Well, I hope you better make more books to replace this one.”

“I shall do that. Magic should be used to preserve humanity,” He promised.

While I had my doubts about that will, I didn’t voice them. “Come on, let’s continue on.”

Eventually though, we found the place I was looking out for, and if I had been less cautious, we would have stepped straight into a dangerous battle.

“Stop!” I snapped, the moment I noticed the sorcerer reaching for the door.

Jazreth froze, then stepped back next to me. “What is it?”

“Do you smell that?”

He took a cautious sniff, then another, before realization appeared on his face. “Blood. Lots of it.”

“Look there.” I pointed at the door he had been about to open.

Or more exactly, at the bottom of it. There was a rather distinct line of red stretching along it, with several brown spots of older marking. 

“Let’s leave it for later.” I beckoned him away from the place. “I’ll explain as we go.”

He followed without any objection. “I shall do as you advise.”

The explanation of the last words of the dead villager he had to have passed by on his way in, followed by my assumptions about The Butcher’s abilities, saw Jazreth nod in understanding as to my earlier actions.

Neither of us were kitted out for a head-on fight against a lightning bruiser, so the smart thing to do was to find things to make it more advantageous for us. While the events so far were quite similar to the game’s, I didn’t want to bet everything on The Butcher not being able to open doors.

We carefully explored the rest of the level, clearing the place of any other monsters and gathering what useful items there were. Ultimately, we found a location nearby that suited our needs; a small room with two doors and a grill that we could attack through with our spells.

Jazreth understood my plan once I explained what I had in mind, and agreed to wait within the room while I drew the monster towards the location. I placed a few Holo Bombs in front of the grill as preparation for that. The sorcerer was able to restrain his urge to examine them enough to leave them be, and I set off to carry out the next step.

Good thing I brought that headband along. Having a speed boost will be essential. I made my way back to the chamber The Butcher was in, committing the route to memory. Okay… so from the door, I go left first, take second right, then first right, left, and straight.

Encouragement. Anya sent to me through our bond.

“Alright.” I hopped a few times to loosen my leg muscles. “Here goes… Knock knock, motherfucker!”

My foot slammed the door open, and I quickly dropped a Holo Bomb beneath me before taking off in a sprint. Even in that short moment, I caught sight of a large silhouette moving towards me from the bloodstained shadows within.

“Aaah~ Fresh Meat!” The hideous voice of the demon echoed throughout the whole floor.

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit…! 

No wonder the villagers had all died so easily. The pressure of that thing’s presence was a terrifying thing to face! Once more, I was thankful that Anya was helping to manage my mood, even as I continued to flee towards where Jazreth was waiting.

I could hear the sound of the bombs exploding as The Butcher triggered them, followed by the cow-like grunts as it took damage from the blasts. No idea how much damage they dealt though. 

It wasn’t enough for sure. The thudding of its footsteps seemed to be getting closer, but I didn’t want to risk turning around to check. 

I turned the first corner, and glimpsed the huge red creature striding towards me out of the corner of my eye.

Fuck, it’s fast. It’s fast! It’s fast!

The explosion of the next bomb lit its features up, and I got to see The Butcher in all of its unholy glory. Or gory, would be the right description.

Thick limbs, and an even thicker body, with a bulging belly. Unlike Jazreth, the size was all muscle. Its face was equally brutish, with a jutting lower jaw and sunken eyes that blazed with bloodlust, with horns sticking out from the sides. It carried a giant cleaver in one hand, and to top it all off, blood covered just about every part of it. If I were to estimate, less than a tenth of it was not-

RUN. Anya practically shrieked into my head.

“FUCK!” I cursed out loud, focusing on staying ahead.

The bomb definitely worked; it had flinched from that last one, which allowed me to maintain the gap instead of losing it when I saw how it looked.

“Over here, hurry!” Jazreth’s shout came from ahead of me.

The sight of him waiting beyond those metal bars was such strong relief, even though I knew it wasn’t over yet.

I put on one last burst of speed, and slid through the doorway, just as he slammed it shut. The other door was already closed.

The Butcher let out a guttural roar and rushed towards the grill, only to hit the force of five Holo Bombs exploding at once. 

“GMUUH!” Its pained grunt was amazing to hear, even as it reeled from the shock.

“Hit it!” I thrust my hand out at the beast, sending three keris piercing through the barrier and into its flesh.

“Burn in Inferno!” Jazreth added the power of his magic to my attack, in a short-ranged continuous gout of flame.

The brightness of the fire made me squint, even more so with the sounds of the demon’s suffering and the awful smell of its burning flesh added to the experience. The screech of metal as it lashed out at the bars made the two of us flinch, but we maintained the assault in spite of that.

Die, die, die, I chanted as I continued to spend my spirit energy into fuelling Anya’s attacks. 

Beside me, Jazreth snatched a bottle filled with blue liquid off his belt and gulped it down quickly, the other hand still sending out the flames.

Then all of a sudden, it retreated, running away from us and vanishing into the darkness. 

“Jazreth. Jazreth, stop!” I called.

The sorcerer ceased his spell, and I blinked several times to get my eyes used to the dim lighting once more.

“Did it flee?” He asked, breathing hard.

“Yes. We must have dealt-”

“RRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!” From the darkness, a red-black mass came charging forth.

“AAAAAAH!” I screamed, instantly bringing my hand up and attacking once more.

REJECTION! Anya expressed her own opinion of the jumpscare.

The keris only nicked it slightly as its direction wasn’t head on towards the grill, but towards the door, which cracked under the heavy charge. Jazreth let out a foreign-sounding curse as well, resuming his Inferno spell on The Butcher.

It didn’t seem to be able to open the door the normal way, but it was clearly capable of breaking through it. The thick wood had already split partially from that impact, and the mighty swings of its cleaver was widening that gap. 

“Get ready to move!” I started dropping more Bombs at our feet, shifting back towards the other door to the room.

“Yes!”

Despite its bulk, it looked like our attacks were getting through; its movements were slowing down, and the flinches were coming more often. Still, The Butcher continued to hack away at the door, its bloodthirsty urge seemingly undeterred.

Then the door finally gave way, and the hulking brute squeezed through the opening, its bulk dislodging the remaining wood from the edges. I made one last thrust aimed at its head, and backed away.

Just in time, as it thrashed around with its free hand covering one side of its face. The bloody cleaver came perilously close to me with those wild swings, and one of them actually sliced through the firebolt that Jazreth shot at it.

“This way, Ray!” He called urgently.

I wasn’t going to stand around in this situation.

We escaped through the other door and shut it behind us, and continued to attack. I saw that Jazreth’s belt was empty of mana potions, and quickly passed him one, which he didn’t hesitate to consume.

The Butcher hit the next batch of bombs and actually stumbled. Neither of us missed the opening, roasting and stabbing as much as we could. It seemed almost invincible, with how it recovered and turned around to use the same opening it made earlier, rather than challenge the other door with its flagging strength.

“I have no more mana!” Jazreth cried out, switching to using his staff’s charges of spells.

“MEAT!” It rammed against the wall as it tried to rush out, and it sounded like the stone cracked. “MEA-” 

Neither of us expected the arrow that plunged into its open mouth, causing the demon to choke.

“Don’t let up!” A new voice called out from behind us. “Kill it quick!”

Instead of looking to see who had spoken, we did what it said and persisted in attacking. Ducking in close and off to the side to avoid interfering with the others’ aim, I activated Anya’s special attack, causing a giant keris to spin around me, cutting repeatedly into its thick flesh. The sorcerer’s spells were weak bolts of fire, but he continued in shooting them nonetheless. A few more arrows added themselves to the first, leaving The Butcher’s head with many thin lengths of wood sticking out of it. 

Then finally… the beast fell.

The cleaver slipped out of its hand, landing on the floor with a final-sounding clang. The Butcher swayed in place, then fell over onto its front, shaking the floor beneath my feet with the impact.

“Is it done?” Jazreth asked.

I could see the spirit shards bursting out from its body, and finally relaxed. “It’s done. The Butcher has been slain.”

“May its victims rest now that they have been avenged.”

Anya let me know that her keris had reached awakening with the energy from that kill. Every strike now would cause up to four blades to attack other enemies within my range as well.

I turned to look in the direction the arrows had come from. “Hey, thanks for the help.”

“Indeed,” Jazreth seconded, “Your assistance was greatly appreciated.”

The shadowy silhouette slowly approached, finally stepping close enough for us to make out her features. As expected, it was a Rogue.

I couldn’t help but notice her appearance straight away. A nicely toned body, with quite a lot of exposed skin; the corset and loincloth she wore left her midriff and upper thighs fully exposed, and the cleavage and curve of her hips definitely made her stunning to look at. Her russet hair was of medium length, tumbling down past the pauldrons and cape that was covering her upper shoulders. I managed to tear my eyes away from her face, which was rather pretty even with a frown, to look at the bow, which was… pretty ordinary looking.

Oh man, I’ve definitely gone too long without releasing my tension, if I’m reacting like that.

“I had heard from the townspeople about some demon responsible for the deaths of many of their number, but this beast exceeded my imagination,” She remarked.

“It was quite the fearsome foe,” Jazreth agreed.

“So, what brings an archer like you to a place like this?” I asked the woman.

The Rogue introduced herself as Moreina, a member of the Order of the Sightless Eye, dispatched to investigate the darkness that had spread over the region, especially with the madness of King Leoric. Her investigations had led her to Tristram, and upon entering this cathedral, her instincts told her that the source of it all lay deep within.

Since she shared that much, we likewise introduced ourselves. Moreina acknowledged that our magic would be very helpful against some of the other enemies that infested this place, and we made an agreement to continue on together.

Now we just need the Warrior guy… Aidan, wasn’t it? I caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye. Oh right, can’t forget that.

I walked over to the smoking lump of flesh that was The Butcher, and carefully picked up the blood-streaked cleaver that it had been using. It was extremely heavy, but still within manageable weight. 

Well, this is going to be my Unique treasure for sure. I didn’t get any message window telling me I had cleared that objective. Maybe I need to get it identified by Cain first. Also… I think this can be used in a ritual.

Come to think of it, there was another quest regarding some star piece that fell down to the earth, wasn’t there? I had a really strong feeling that was the other piece I needed. 

“Can you actually use that?” Moreina asked me, eyeing my body in a way that suggested she was giving me the same scrutinizing I had done to her. 

“I have plans for it, yes. Unless you want to…?”

“My preference remains with my magic.”

“My bow is enough for me, so no thanks.”

“Right.” I looked around at both of them. “Then shall we continue on? The stairs to the next floor are just over there.”

“Lead on then.”

With our group now numbering three, we descended deeper into the dungeon. 

Afterword: My muse just supplied me with Diablo out of nowhere, and I rolled with it even though I haven't touched it or its sequels in years. I’m sure quite a few Holofans can tell just which Holomember will end up getting summoned with the spoils from this one. She’s a rather fun character to play.