24 Hearts

80====================

Calypso’s Nightmare

Judah’s body shot up the moment the long message flashed before his eyes. After realizing what was going on, he turned off a few of the pop-up messages. Some were unimportant, while the rest were messages that would appear whenever a fragment was obtained.

He grinned upon finding that his muscle strength, physical strength, agility, magic power, and magic resistance increased by one making most, if not all, of his stats better. Even a quick glance at Altemia’s properties surprised him. Not anywhere else could he obtain such a weapon for 15 gold coins.

‘Okay, what comes next?’

This was just a small step towards collecting all 24 fragments, but he felt proud for making this move. He knew the heirloom dagger acted like a Matryoshka, a Russian doll that contained more dolls inside and would reveal the true dagger beneath. With a slight touch from Judah’s hand, the broken dagger shattered to the floor to reveal a new one. The blade gleamed in a deep red hue the same as fresh blood, and its deadly tip shot straight and clean.

The fragment sat in the rain, tempting the eyes of those who beheld it.

“Hah.”

Just like Carpe Diem, it seemed that each fragment had a strange power to move people’s hearts. Judah threw out the old dagger and picked up -The Tenth Fragment-Altemia-. As soon as it settled within his grip, the ways on how to use it ran inside his mind. Judah felt a prick of pain tingling within, but he found himself laughing from its sensation.

“Judah, are you okay?” Jeanne, still agape from the wave of power that rippled from the dagger, asked Judah in confusion.

“Yes. I feel very good. Why? Do I look weird?”

“It’s not a big deal, but you suddenly look so… confident.”

That was one way to put it. The moment he got the fragments, the moment he saw the message telling him his progress was saved, any fear that settled in him a few minutes ago disappeared into thin air. If the fragment didn’t save his progress, he might just go way back in time at his battle with Ea. The thought that if he died anytime soon, he could return to this safe point now and that reassurance was enough to bring up his confidence. Judah merely smiled.

“Because we now have a weapon against the ghosts. Now, shall we go?”

“…Yes.”

“Oh, it’s okay if you don’t stay armed. If you don’t know what to do, just summon your shield and protect me. If the ghosts come near, swing at them with your shield along with your magic power.”

“Okay,” Jeanne responded as silver particles blossomed around her left arm, revealing her enormous shield.

Judah switched the blade from his right hand to his left hand. While he could throw daggers just fine with his right hand, it was less awkward to do so with his left hand. And he didn’t want to risk it, wishing to make the best out of the dagger’s skills.

They walked up to the door, and Judah held the doorknob. The moment his fingertips touched the steel, a chill ran through his hand, then it felt like every hair in his body stood up. He chuckled in nervousness, feeling the same way he felt when he first encountered a black wolf. In games and novels, he could fight against new monsters or enemies without the feeling of fear.

Judah felt every drop of rain coming down at his robe and down to his face, holding his breath as his hand lingered around the doorknob. Finally, he flipped it and pushed the door open.

The door swung open, and the first thing their eyes found were dead bodies hanging from the ceiling. In their peripheral vision, the shadows cackled and laughed, as if it was entertaining for them.

The corpses rattled, their teeth clattering along with them. One of them couldn’t bear the weight, and the body fell from where it hung, landing with a deafening thump.

Something detached from its body and rolled through the floor. They didn’t know if it was a coincidence or the ghosts played a part in it, but the object met Judah’s feet, revealing that it was a bronze plaque issued by the Adventurers Guild.

Judah remembered what the guide in the guild had told them regarding the adventurers he sent out in search of Edron, whom he never heard from as well. It occurred to him; these were the adventurers. He bent down and picked up the plaque.

The ghosts murmured and cackled as they stood over the fallen body. Judah glared at them as he pocketed the plaque. Then, he drew back his hood.

“These ghosts are too noisy.”

Judah shot the Altemia he held in his hand. He didn’t need to use magic for it. Fragments were objects that can damage a spiritual being just by itself. The dagger flew through the air like a bullet and hit the ghost. It sent the black figure onto a wall, and soon it began to scream as the dagger absorbed its entire being.

───!

The screams grew more annoying by the minute. As soon as the other ghosts realized what he had done, they charged at Judah without any fear. Judah activated Shadow Justice Form 2-Magic and quickly spotted the number and location of each ghost in their vicinity.

“Block the front, Jeanne.”

“Got it!” She switched from behind him to the front, brandishing her magical silver shield.

While Jeanne blocked, Judah opened up his palm. Red energy gathered in his hand, forming into an Altemia in the same shape as the one he had thrown. The weight and fit of it in his grasp was exactly the same. With a snap of his wrist, Judah threw the dagger straight at the forehead of a ghost that sprouted quickly from the corner.

Since he didn’t need to pull out the Altemia from his belt like his normal daggers, Judah’s attacks were quicker than before. He threw two or more of his conjured daggers at any ghost who dared to creep closer. He kept attacking, never running out of blades and never missing a target, either.

Hah!

Chia! Hah!

Outside was an entirely different world. The rain continued pouring like a peaceful white noise, while the house’s interiors were enveloped in the shrieking of ghosts that shook the walls of the building. The spirits had already experienced death once, and so seeing the death of their allies did not faze them. Instead, they charged at Judah without hesitation.

Jeanne’s shield, infused with her magic power, blocked any ghosts that clashed with her, sending them flying off.

“?”

Jeanne was not used to this kind of battle. The Blue Lancer was used to the sound of clanking and clashing against the face of her shield. But when their enemies met her shield, Jeanne heard not a single sound. She could only feel the push of the ghosts when they bumped against her. As she watched the ghosts fall to the floor then rise back up, she caught a glimpse of a ghost coming from the side with their mouth wide open and their hand going straight at them. Just when she was about to turn her shield to the enemy, a red light flashed through the air and went straight into its mouth. Just as how fast the enemy was from attacking, the same way it fell back onto the wall behind it.

“Jeanne, to the right!”

Jeanne’s eyes snapped to the direction Judah pointed at. The ghosts from that side came back up again.

“I know!”

Jeanne swung her shield to beat the ghosts away like a ball. One ghost passed through the wall and disappeared out of the house as if they had overpowered it.

‘I caught four of them. Seven are currently hiding, including the one that just showed up… Are twelve left?’

Judah suddenly looked down at his feet. In the dark, a red eye hazily blinked back at him. Without thinking twice, Judah created a new Altemia in his right hand and shot it down. The enemy screamed as the Altemia tore through it before it could come up from the ground.

Cutting and stabbing ghosts was an odd and mysterious experience. It felt like cutting through wet tissue paper. The sensation was barely there, but the feeling that it left in his fingertips was hard to put into words. Judah pulled out the dagger from the floor and found himself flinging it to the back. His instincts were right as it hit another ghost, and soon the Altemia sucked those within its vicinity.

The Altemia sucked whatever mystical enemy that came into contact with its sharp red blade.

‘Was this five or six?’

To try another attack, Judah summoned daggers in both hands and threw them at the same time. The one from his right hand missed, but the ghost flying in the air lost its sense of direction and staggered.

‘Seven. Eight!’

But with every dagger he threw, Judah found himself growing tired. He remembered that it consumed a percent of his stamina every time he activated the skill -Ten in One Altemia-. He grew tired from each attack he launched. However, it seemed that the recovery rate was as fast as it can consume.

‘Jeez, these guys are relentless.’

The ghosts kept cackling and murmuring, never retreating for a second. Soon, there were two ghosts left. They were either destroyed by Jeanne’s shield or were struck so hard by Judah’s attacks. Their screams pierced through the house before disappearing into the air. The Altemias stuck on the walls, ceiling, and floor, vaporized into the air until the only one left was the one within Judah’s grasp. Slowly, it melted and disappeared into his open palm.

‘This is really comfortable.’

It was a great advantage to completely hide weapons and summon them at will, especially in an emergency.

“Good job, Jeanne. Thanks to you, we got them easily.”

Her skills and senses were excellent. Her ability to block the oncoming enemies allowed him to hunt and attack better. His only worry in the battle was the ghosts that sprung out of nowhere from the walls, ceiling, and floorboards. Their teamwork in the battle cemented how excellent a choice it was to choose Jeanne as his companion. When Jeanne cleared the area for any remaining ghosts, she put down her shield and sighed with a smile.

“You did good as well. That dagger works. I think I believe you now, about it being a fragment.”

She didn’t believe him that it was a fragment until now.

‘I would feel the same way. If someone told me this was a fragment, I wouldn’t believe them!’

It was natural for her to be skeptical of the authenticity of objects because, unlike Judah, she didn’t have a system to tell her otherwise. The ghosts in the house were already taken care of, so all that was left for them to think of were the corpses hanging from above.

“Do you think we should leave them alone?”

The battle with the black wolves made Judah unfazed from seeing mangled and injured bodies, but to touch the ones before them felt like a wrong thing to do. The bodies were decaying, almost at the brink of falling off from their very limbs. And while Jeanne wished to help, she listened to Judah’s musing. She was determined to do nothing about them.

“I don’t think we have enough time because of the rain. I think we should let them rest. We can’t bring them out because of the rain, so maybe we can settle them into a corner somewhere?”

“…Huh. That’s it then.”

Judah sighed, frowning as he approached the bodies that were hung by their necks. His hand hung in the air, hesitating, before reaching out at the rotting flesh and its horrifying smell. Jeanne watched him while he paused. Judah was too young to deal with such a thing, so even if it disgusted Jeanne, he stopped his hands from reaching the corpse.

“I’ll do it, Judah. I’ll get them down, and you can just take their adventurer plaques.”

She cut off the ropes from the ceiling, carefully brought them to the ground then laid them neatly in a corner. All Judah did was search their bodies to retrieve their bronze plates. It was unsightly to see their bodies the way they were, so Judah took out a cloth from his bag and covered them with it. Later, Jeanne ripped off a collapsed wooden panel and covered their carcasses with the wooden planks.

“Judah…”

“Yes?”

“We haven’t eaten anything since we left the castle… And I’m hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”

Judah nodded with a small smile at her request for a meal.

It looked like the rain would continue to rage until he had defeated the dungeon. The smartest move was to take their meals away from the rain, even if this was the shelter they had. Judah opened the -Bag- and took out the food Tia had wrapped up when he left Serenia Castle.

‘I told her I would eat these alone… But I’m sorry, Tia, I have to share them with Jeanne.’

In his heart, Judah asked Tia for forgiveness as he poured the food into an empty bowl. They were supposed to feel safe, but they felt anything but that as they sat in a haunted house filled with ghosts, as corpses lay just right around the corner, all underneath a raging storm.