The Legendary Ghost Hunter

'Zelestria… what is going on here?' Finn asked in his head, landing on the ground and keeping his ears sharp for any sign of an attack. In his arms was Iris, still suffering from a painful headache that rendered her unable to do a thing.

[Fufu~looks like we've fallen into the Specters' trap, darling~] Zelestria said with a giggle.

'Tch… some warning would've been nice.'

[My, my… this is a learning opportunity, y'know? Don't you remember? I won't tell you anything unless it is fatal.]

'Right… so, how do I get out of this 'trap'?'

[To find a solution to a problem, one must first understand the problem.] Zelestria said, like a philosopher. [Specters are quite the special Ghost archetype. They do not have tangible physical forms, and don't attack directly either.]

'What…? They don't attack?'

[I know what you're thinking, darling. But just because they don't 'attack', doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.]

'…'

Finn was confused. Naturally, he was. Most Ghost Hunters would have a headache after learning about Specters and how to deal with them, apart from the House of Spectra. By 'headache', that refers to a natural one, not like the one Iris was having right now.

[You see, Specters mess with people's minds. They trap them within illusions, invoke confusion, and in the worst of cases—cause Hunters to turn against one another. They may not be strong once their tricks are seen through, but it is quite difficult to see through them without lots of experience—especially not in a Temple. Specters are weak, but troublesome nonetheless.]

'… Hmph. I would much rather deal with Phantoms.'

[I would too, darling. But if you truly want to slay all the Ghosts of this world, you need to learn how to deal with all five archetypes.]

'… Hm.'

Finn heaved Iris onto his back, then picked up a stone off the ground and tossed it ahead of him. It landed with a soft  clackle.

[Oh?] Zelestria smiled wryly. [What is this…?]

'… Isn't it obvious? I was supposed to hit a mountain by now, yet I have not. The only explanation is that either the mountain moved… or there is some kind of portal play at work here that is causing us to travel infinitely in the same passage. I don't have to be able to see to figure this out.'

[Oho… how interesting.]

Zelestria stopped there though and refrained from telling Finn if he was on the right track or not, as he wanted him to experience it on his own.

Finn repeated this process several times—picking up the pebble, tossing it a few meters forward, listening for the sound it made, then walking forward and picking up the pebble again. He made sure not to throw it too far, as that would dim the sound it made and lead to a possible error in judgment.

After several repetitions of this, he picked up the pebble once more and prepared to throw it again. But then, he heard a noise before he even threw. It sounded like… footsteps.

'… It must be the House of Spectra.'

There was no mistaking it—that armored clunking of metal, those rigid footsteps—it was them. Finn, still carrying Iris, needed to make a decision.

Should he meet with these guys and work out a plan together? Or should he just hide and continue on with what he had been doing?

If the first plan went south, a fight would break out. As Finn was carrying Iris, he wasn't sure he could win against four House of Spectra Ghost Hunters. The fact that only five of them had been sent in here meant they were elite of the elite… then again, one of them did die horribly like that already. Were they really that strong?

On the other hand, if he simply hid in one of these bushes, there was a chance the House of Spectra Hunters could detect him anyway. Coming into a Dungeon or Temple, a scouting device like some sort of radar was a necessity. Even if he turned himself invisible, he could not hide Iris's presence.

As such, he would end up having to meet with the four anyway, and they would already be suspicious as to why he was hiding. And so, the better option of the two was clear.

Finn remained rooted in place, waiting for the four to come to him.

*****

The four House of Spectra Hunters walked in silence.

Well, mostly silence.

Apart from the occasional 'how is the radar looking like' from the leader, the quartet did not speak to one another. Was it because they were in a Temple? Well, yes, partly… but it was more because for every minute that passed, the dread in the four's hearts grew.

Their commander, Leal, had a series of five rules that all House of Spectra Ghost Hunters must follow, known as Leal's Five Maxims. Of them, the third stated that one must always trust in their comrades and never assume they are dead until you've seen their corpse.

But it's been nearly an hour since the group had entered this Temple, and Phoenix had set off into the air to scout. She was supposed to return right after getting a good overhead view of this place. That should not have taken 30 minutes.

But being the loyal soldiers that they were, they did not dare to disobey their commander's maxims, even if he was not presently here. Still, it was only a matter of time before someone opened their mouth about the elephant in the room.

That is, until…

"… Giant, radar?"

"Yes sir! Nothing as of ye-" The boy began, repeating the same thing he had been saying for the past fifty times he had been asked this same question, but then, the device he held in his hand gave a ping. "S-Sir! There's a presence detected! Straight up ahead, roughly 300 meters!"

"Only one?" The leader frowned.

The boy nodded. "Yes! Only one! But… it doesn't seem to be a Specter."

The leader's eyes narrowed, and he stared straight ahead as if trying to find said person 300 meters ahead.

"You mean… there is another Ghost Hunter in here…?"