I watched as the last tiger was killed. No exp though. It's a one percent exp ring, not a no exp ring. The tiger began to get back up. At least the parts that had heads attached. We all look at Thane.

  “First time?” He says not sounding all too concerned.

  We all collectively roll our eyes at the guild master. I frown after a bit. He hadn't bothered doing anything differently to the tigers he slew. I watch Mags bisect an undead tiger head to tail. I wince a bit remembering a different crazed time. She hadn't bothered burning the two halves this time. Watching them trying to flop back up, perhaps she should have.

  I sip my blood skin. Almost at the end of my second barrel. Gregory looks annoyed at me.

  “Are you just going to watch?”

  I quirk a smile, “You're doing fine. I think. Actually still no exp. Thane, is there a point where they actually die?”

  “Huh oh no, not unless you incinerate them or void them. We should make a pile before burning them.”

  I look at the ones he has dispatched and in fact he does seem to be gathering the pieces into one spot. Mags gives a bit of an annoyed huff. “And you were planning to say this when?”

  He has a wry smile, “Sorry, used to teaching the young. I was half expecting you to have some different way, [Countess].”

  “Why not just [Drain Mana] them?” I ask.

  “Oh sure, if you want to poison yourself. They're full of undeath, Mourns.”

  I quirk an eyebrow at that and walk to a tiger head. It gnaws the air at me. Being just a head, that's all it can do. I bend down and pick it up in my skeletal hand. I give a small smile and pull the mana out of it. A familiar coldness enters me before going down the tether.

  Received 1 exp from 1% share ring

  “Are you insane?” Thane runs up and grabs my arm.

  “Debatable, [Guild Master], but I am also fine.” I say glibbly. I look to the next. I started to walk when I noticed he hadn't let go. “[Guild Master]?”

  “Just ‘cause you survived pulling one head's worth of undeath into yourself doesn't mean you should keep doing it.” He glares at me. It's a bit comical as I have to look down to meet his eyes.

  “You prefer exhausting everyone's mana instead?”

  “Yes? How is this a question? We can rest after we are done.” He says while looking at me like I had two heads instead of two sets of arms.

  “That won't do, I have not the time. I'll take care of them all.” I say loudly, he glares at me, “I do not plan to take in their mana.” He lets go and helps gather the writhing masses to one spot.

  I set down my barrels again and walk to the mound of horrendous. Thane watches me closely. Mags has a bemused look while Gregory has a curious one. I engage the fire tail, becoming a scorpion gnome. It causes a snort from my knight while Thane looks confused.

  “What the…I'd not ask how but what does this change?” He sputters incredulously.

  I chirp, “Things need burnin, I hav’ the tails for that.”

  He is still confused when my three tails belch out fire onto the mound. The heat is immense but the notification starts popping. I return to my barrels, shifting back to my blood tail as I go.

  “Does every tail have some level of terror?” My knight asks.

  I give him a patient look, “Of course, they all have me.” Punctuated with a grin that was rather toothy.

  It caused a laugh from Mags. I decide to finish off the second barrel before lashing the last two to myself. I start to walk forward.

  “Are you not tired?”

  “I can't exactly do that incineration immediately but no. I can clear more ahead of us if you need a moment, [Guild Master]. Unless of course there is some hazard you wish to tell us about before we are ‘in the thick of it’.” I don't think I did a good job of hiding my derision. He frowns at me.

  “No, I'm fine to proceed, Mourns.”

  He passes in front of me along with the others. We enter more catacombs. Shelves with skeletons. All stacked up. No doubt a few were alive…well monsters ready to attack. Similar to what we saw before. Thane is looking rapidly at the various shelves.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “The phylactery. The dungeon likes to hide it amongst the dead. The moment we engage the lich they all wake up.”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  I looked behind me, there were a lot of shelves. Each with a skeleton. “That seems a bit much. Also, only three floors?”

  “Its not a very high level dungeon, Mourns.”

  I frown, “It probably needs more cores.” I said morosely.

  “No, dear.”

  I look at Mags, “I don't understand.”

  “No to giving it one of your cores, one the city depends on the dungeon to stay like it is and two you are still recovering yourself.”

  “But…”

  “No.”

  “What do you mean, ‘give it one of her cores’?” Thane asks.

  Mags flicks a look to me. I shrug. She smiles, “Have you heard of the Bandit's Suicide, Thane?”

  “I have, [Countess]. It collapsed a year ago and broke Kargnia's economy.”

  I wince, Mags continues. “Yes, well the dungeon core is right there.” She points at me.

  “You're joking.”

  “I tend to laugh when I think something is funny, Thane.”

  “Is this why you hunt a mental core? To restore the dungeon?” He asks.

  I shake my head, “It's to survive, it's likely the dungeon will be restored but it is not my primary goal, [Guild Master].”

  He nods and continues looking for the phylactery. It would likely be shrouded in undeath, but I never open a set of eyes for that. Even though it was part of my blood core. And my personal lich is too greedy to let me use any undeath to open that sight. I huff out an annoyance. My luck, it would make everything look grey.

  “It's eerie how there is nothing to fight.” Gregory whispers, his eyes scan for foes and not phylacteries.

  “This whole floor is just the core boss area.” Thane chimes in.

  So we continue on. Scanning the shelves.

  “What exactly does the phylactery look like?” I ask, as I scan for anything that isn't bone.

  “It will be the skull with the mind core in it.”

  I stop. “Is it the core itself?” How can I absorb the core if it is the creature soul. I tremble a bit at the thought.

  “No, it's just where the core will be. The lich is hiding amongst the dead.” Thane says.

  “Being separate from its phylactery weakens it. A lot of liches will rejoin their phylactery to whatever body they wish to inhabit.” Mags adds. I see her eyes glow with the mental purple. I match her looking for that core.

  Nothing. I frown. “The dungeon boss knows we are coming for it. I fear we can't force a confrontation until we are in the center.”

  “No, the boss is always out here.” Thane argues.

  I look to the guild master. I shrug and keep looking. This crypt just continues going. We see the central arena but we keep going down corridors instead of entering it. Thane insisted that the lich was hiding. I suspected otherwise. If it was me, I wouldn't engage our group. But maybe the dungeon has no mind.

  “Does Na still speak?” I ask as I scan the latest shelf. Had to have been the thousandth one.

  “Dungeons don't talk.” Thane said with derision. I gave a raised eyebrow to him. “Well this one doesn't. Sorry.”

  “I simply found no reason to converse, Thane of the latest [Adventure Guild Master of Yetna].”

  Well shit. It came from the central area. “We need to move. Now.” Mags commands.

  The crinkle of bones begins to sound from everywhere. We run. Towards the center. The sound of bone scraping on bone grows. We enter the arena to find a skeleton sitting by itself on a mound of skulls. Clad in a wispy dress it turns its head towards us.

  ? ? Lich

  “You who still walk the lands. I have something you want.”

  All the entrances are flooded with skeletons. They stay there. Not yet moving forward. It makes me wish I could push out my aura.

  “That's right. It could save a lot of trouble if you could surrender it.”

  The creature laughs. The dungeon trembles.

  “It is my only core, greedy one. You ask me to not exist by claiming it.”

  I frown. “I do.”

  “It's only for six days.” Gregory interjects.

  More laughter. “Spoken as one who never experienced it.”

  I wince. An eternity that ends instantly. Of not being quite sure you're still the same. Knowing that fundamentally, you're not.

  “This one understands.” It looks at me.

  “Why do you only have one core, do none of the others level?”

  “I do not level. I am but a construct that claims the soul of my creator. Their aim was to have me manage this dungeon while they left. They gave too much to me after the creator found themselves still unable to leave. The process shattered every core but this.”

  “And so this city allows your blasphemy to continue as you're still useful.” More laughter; it or mine? I'm not sure. I turn around, putting my back to the lich. Mourns and Ceas are beckoned out to me. “I have no desire to fight this pitiful undead. Claim the core as I smash its toys.”

  The straps to my barrels snap as I charge forward. The undead charge at me. They ignore the rest. It desires my physical cores. Just as much as I desire its’. I hear a great rumbling behind me as I enter the sea of undead. Thane is not there to stop me. I draw the undeath from the horde. As it enters me it flees down my soul tether. Am I speeding up my consumption of a different lich by doing this? I don't care.

  It becomes a dance as I rush through this sea. A kick, a cut, a toss when one gets to my torso. They jump on me. They lose their power and fall off. No exp is granted. They all are part of the lich. Just an extension of its body. But for each I render useless, more form. Is it endless? No, I feel the creature's soul wane for each skeleton it raises. I know that if I desired it, I could devour this soul. Claim it for my own. The temptation is there. Would it have memories? Does it have its creators?

  It has enslaved its creator. A fool who powered an undead construct with their own soul. It in turn is enslaved by Yetna. I could break any of these chains. Free the lich to grow. Free the creator of the lich. Both could condemn the town. My body aches but my mind grows cold. What sympathy I had slowly curdles. I feel great disdain for what this thing is. It reminds me too much of my past. Worse, it's a harbinger of my future.

  I continue my dance when suddenly they all stop moving. They collapse as a notification pops up.

  Received 8 exp from 1% share ring

  It's over. I slowly drag myself back to the arena. I shift back to the Kitsune form after taking off the necklace. I stumble a few times but find the rest of the party to be fine. Mags is tending to Gregory's arm while Thane ruts around in the mound of skulls.

  I sit down and smile. The nice thing about fox tails is there is something to lay on. I do so now. I see Mags panic when she looks towards me. She shouts something at Gregory. I close my eyes.

  Soul Raised to 773

  A supplicant has tied themselves further to you

  Remaining Soul 101