Overall, the Dungeon became quiet during the following winter. I continued my experimentation and tested strange ideas. There were many failures with explosive results, but the few successes were welcomed and sometimes surprising.

  The goats that attacked the Dungeon were the last corrupted monsters I saw that year. I found that my design for mountain goats was surprisingly flexible and adaptable. I introduced it to several experiments, and the results were quite interesting. The corruption that would have typically taken days to drain away was gone in mere hours. I was sure now that more significant refining and concentration on clearing these channels would make it even faster.

  Over the winter, fewer adventurers visited due to the cutdown of daylight hours. As usual, the third floor was the most popular of all my floors. However, I had seen in past winters which confirmed that access to fresh boar meat was a significant source of income during these months.

  A few more cocky ones had shown up and tried a run against the seventh. Nine more bodies were added to the floor in Krag's hall. The blood Moss had also expanded across different parts of the floor. I estimated that about 15% of the surface area was now this new type of moss.

  My essence count had increased more during these long, dark days, and I was close to my next floor. I focused on preparing the base designs I would use, as I wanted to finish the floor quickly. I was constantly going back and reviewing my plans; on several occasions, I found that I had overestimated my resources. I was continually reminding myself to work within what I had.

  "Soon."

  Larry was showing me his back. He was unhappy with me because I refused to light the fire in the entrance room. Winter was giving up its grip now, but we had just gone through quite a nasty cold snap. Puck never went higher than the third as it was warmer down there, even with the draught. He had gone down to the 7th one day to try to "play" with Krag. The ogre quickly dissuaded him from any further notion of trying that again.

  I believed it was about an hour until dawn, and I was doing a final check of the Dungeon before the new day started. The rest of the floors were in good shape; I was ready for the daily influx. I had finished my walk around with Krag. Over the winter, I had made a few alterations to the decorations in his room, but nothing more. There were a few more Shields and terrible-quality weapons on the walls. I'd also added two more torches.

  Krag grunted when he noticed the changes. I was not bothered, as he was the most efficient killer I possessed. I was happy to leave him to his own devices as long as he continued doing that.

  I had ended my experimentation earlier than usual as I had used up more CP than I expected and did not want to use anymore. I was preparing to settle in and review last night's work results. I had…..

  A flicker movement caught my attention from the corner of my view.

  I turn my attention to one of the bodies on the floor of Krag's hall.

  Did it just move?

  The body was covered in blood moss and was well into decomposition. I looked at the body briefly, but it did not move.

  "Am I finally losing it?"

  I shifted my view back to Krag. I might want….

  Another flicker of movement.

  "Right. Is there something going on here?"

  Krag grunted, uninterested. I turn my attention to the body again. This time, I shifted my view to Mana Sight to see if anything stood out. My vision shifted, and I discovered something I had not expected.

  The body was gathering essence, which concentrated into a type of mana I'd never seen before. The mana type forming was a strange mixture of purple and grey. I could see the mana spreading across the body and interacting even with the blood moss.

  I found the whole thing fascinating and decided to sit back and watch. It was interesting to see how the mana moved and seemed to do so with some form of design or purpose. Over the next possibly half an hour, I watched as the whole body was now infused with the strange mana. It gave me several new ideas that I wanted to experiment with later.

  As I watched, the mana became denser and darker. It lost its purple color and became darker and darker grey until it was almost black. The mana was now strands covering the body in a pattern similar to a net. It was then that the body started jerking.

  "Krag, I…."

  I started saying when the body suddenly sat up. After a few moments, he began to get to his feet; his motions were jerky and uncontrolled. Krag had risen from his throne and walked over, carrying his mace. The former human adventurer was now standing, but its body still showed the damage that had killed it. It was primarily rotten flesh now, with many bones showing through.

  "Undead?"

  I asked myself. But before I could think of anything else, Krag smashed down the now-standing body with his mace. He went on to hit it a few more times just to make sure that it would not get back up again.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  With him smashing down the body, I got the alert.

  "Shit!"

  I quickly scrambled around and managed to get the little amount of mana I got from the destruction of the zombie into my core before it dissolved completely. It was a close-run thing, but now I had access to Death Mana. I opened up my status sheet and looked at the mana section. I now had Death – 2(80)/ 0.2phr listed, the eighth type of mana I can access.

  "Well, this is completely unexpected."

  I focused on the other bodies and found that death mana was slowly gathering around them. The first body that had risen was the first person who had died in this room. If things continued as they were, there was a good chance that the others would also stand up.

  "Krag, these bodies might stand up again. If they do, hit them."

  I opened the status sheet and looked it over. The best way to describe it was underwhelming. The Blood Moss Zombie had some advantages against bladed weapons, which was interesting, but weaknesses against holy and healing magic. This made sense to me as undead were not as easy as many believe to put down. Stat-wise, it would barely hold its own on the second floor. But I did read something exciting about the blood moss. The Blood Moss would absorb blood and restore the undead was part of—something similar to a vampiric ability but not as potent.

  The more I read over the sheet, the more interested I became. As I was so close to the next floor, I was looking to put the final touches on my plan for it. The biggest problem I encountered was what the guardian would be. I didn't want another boar, and the rats I was planning did not meet the criteria. Could I throw another curveball at the adventurers and use an undead instead?

  Now, this was an idea I should investigate further. Also, I needed to make new mana stones to hold the new element I had gained. But that led to a very important question….

  "Where the hell am I going to put them?"

  ## ## ## ## ##

  Comus stood once again in his laboratory. His guild had thrown a small party to welcome him back to his position. Many of the dignitaries and important people of the town had attended. Thankfully, it was all over now, and he could escape the scrutiny and public welcome he was forced to endure. He knew they meant well, but he had always been unhappy with such public displays. His role as Guild leader required him to attend and hold such functions, but he was always deeply unhappy. He always sought others to run them for him.

  After his little jaunt into the Dungeon, his laboratory was sealed. Guild investigators had gone through the room and catalogued its contents. They had ruled that nothing in here was threatening; however, his research from the time he was corrupted was restricted. He had been given special dispensation to reread it, and it was all neatly piled on the desk in the room.

  It seems that even with his altered mental state, he could still perform his duties to his usual standard. He was unsure if that was either a compliment or a damning piece of evidence of his lifestyle. He walked over to the desk and looked at the notes scribbled onto the foolscap and vellum.

  He sat down behind his desk and began to organise the papers. He could see his thought processes through the increasing incoherent and mad scribbling. Comus realised that part of him knew something was wrong and desperately tried to find the cure. The problem was that he didn't fully understand what he was up against and, even now, still did not know. He had learned more about the corruption creating the twisted, but there was still so much he did not know.

  He put down the research and decided to leave it alone for now. He was not ready to walk down that path once more. Even though he could not remember much of what happened in the Dungeon, the memory of the pain was the only thing he could be sure of.

  He leaned back in his chair with the report of what he took into the Dungeon. He shook his head, knowing that the Guild was not happy with the loss of some of those potions, but he could do nothing about it. However, he knew they would get him to replace the important ones as he was one of the few who could make them.

  He began to put away his mad ramblings and focus on what he could control at the moment.

  ## ## ## ## ##

  "I think he'll be fine," Elian told Albrot when they returned to her office. Averance had a couch installed and lounged on it with her eyes closed. The fire burning in the hearth lit and warmed the room, which had no other sources of illumination.

  "Yes, I think you're right. High Healer Selmum refused to release him until she was certian that he was free of corruption. I suspect he could have been released several weeks ago, but I would not argue with the woman." Albrot said.

  "Boy, never argue with the churches when it involves their domains," Averance added from the couch. Albrot ignored her. Elian was still trying to understand the dynamic between the two.

  "Doltum is convinced we will soon see the Dungeon adding a new floor." He continued. "We need Vicdrum and a support team ready to go when that day comes."

  "The best we have available at the moment is Minvar and her team," Elian said after considering the roster of teams they have available.

  Averance snorted. "Is that [Vanguard] in her team still pursuing the grudge against the ogre on the seventh floor?"

  "He is High Guild Master. It seems that he's obsessed with beating the ogre one-on-one. So far, his team has been forced to bail him out at every instance of them meeting it in battle." Elian knew this as it was common knowledge in the Guild, and there was even a betting pool to see how many times the warrior would get stomped on.

  Averance snorted again but said no more.

  Albrot sought to bring the conversation back to more important matters. "There is great interest in what the Dungeon will create on this new floor."

  "There's a betting pool amongst the adventurers again on this. The present favourite is something to do with goats." Elian pointed out.

  "Goats?" Averance asked the question in her voice.

  "The Dungeon normally incorporates something from the twisted it has recently defeated, and the last one is that herd of goats that attacked the Dungeon."

  "Wasn't there a lion sometime last year?" She asked.

  "Yes, there was, and that's the second favourite in the betting pool. The goats are favourite because this Dungeon does create some of the strangest monsters anyone has ever seen." Elian explained.

  "Well, we'll just have to wait to see." Averance frowned slightly. "I think I might join in the betting. What are the odds?"

  Albrot rolled his eyes. "Don't tell her. We'll never hear the end of it if she loses."

  Averance snorted again, and Albrot continued to ignore her.

  "Inform Minvar that we will need her team to explore the new floor when it opens. Vicdrum should start to get ready and have his supplies ready," Albrot thought out loud.

  "I'll make the arrangements," Elian promised.