Darkness lingered before her eyes like an inescapable Nightmare from the dead of night. At the tunnel’s end, thick earth blocked the way—a silent reminder to the little girl that this path led nowhere.

Another failure. Nevia sighed inwardly. She kicked aside a rusted iron pickaxe cluttering the path. These abandoned mining tools, worthless since their owners vanished, littered the tunnels everywhere.

Facing the three-way fork ahead, Nevia rubbed her temples. Deep underground, mine shafts branched endlessly like a maze, but most were dead ends. Only one true path led to the surface.

After a brief rest, she gathered her patience and chose a new direction. The deeper she went, the darker and heavier the shadows grew.

A faint sound echoed from a nearby tunnel. Nevia paused, listening closely. It was Kaelen’s voice—shaking with panic. She’d planned another route, but now she sprinted toward him.

“Kaelen?...”

Rounding a bend, she found him frozen at the entrance of a cavernous chamber. Firelight revealed four “corpses” sprawled at the far end.

“The dead?” Nevia covered her nose, frowning. The bodies had rotted for years. Clothes were unrecognizable; two were bare skeletons, the others putrid heaps oozing a foul stench.

“Maybe we should fetch the knight orders,” Kaelen said, swallowing hard.

“First, you’d need to escape yourself,” Nevia snapped, glaring. “Don’t be an idiot.”

*(The knight orders were town peacekeepers, like Earth’s police—but Nevia doubted they’d care about ancient corpses in this abandoned mine.)*

Kaelen chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head. “What’s this?” He scanned the ground to hide his embarrassment and spotted a strange object: a pure black stone, visible only in the firelight.

“Hmm?” Nevia tilted her head slightly, brow furrowed. It felt familiar, but she couldn’t recall—

“Kaelen, don’t—”

Too late. The boy curiously snatched the stone.

“Oh my god.” Nevia slapped her forehead. She remembered now—a black magic trap trigger. Why it was here was a mystery, but trouble was certain. *Calling you reckless is too kind! Why can’t you learn?* Her stomach twisted with frustration.

A rustling stirred in the pitch-black dark. The corpses slowly rose, bones crackling.

“Run!” Nevia yelled, spinning to flee. But Kaelen stood frozen.

A rotting corpse lunged at him. Kaelen raised his hand instinctively, but before magic could gather, the grotesque head loomed close. Black, decaying flesh hung like rags on a gray skeleton. Two hollow eye sockets glowed with emerald soul flames. A wave of putrid stench hit him.

Kaelen trembled uncontrollably. He was just a noble boy—Undead were only legends to him. He wanted to run, but his body locked in place as the withered arm reached for him.

“Ah—” His scream died as a bottle of clear liquid flew past, smashing into the Undead. It exploded softly, blocking the creature and shoving it back.

Nevia yanked his shirt from behind, dragging him away.

*Nevia...*

Seeing her determined face, strength flooded back into Kaelen. He shot a fierce glare at the four Undead, then followed Nevia in a frantic dash through the tunnels.

Low-level Undead moved slowly. Though just kids, they shook off pursuit.

“So tired... I-I can’t run anymore...” Kaelen bent over, hands braced on the dirt, gasping.

“Huh? This is...” Nevia realized their wild escape had led to an exit—but it was straight up. A rusty vertical lift stood beside them, leading to a faintly glowing hole high above. The catch? One person had to turn the wheel below while another rode up.

The kids stared blankly. *Who designed this genius trap?* Nevia nearly cursed. She tested the lift—thankfully, it still worked.

“You go first,” she said after a pause, meeting Kaelen’s eyes.

“No.” He shook his head stubbornly. “I... I won’t leave you. I’m a man.”

“You’ll only slow me down,” Nevia said, her tone softening at his resolve. “Get Sevein. He can handle them.”

Kaelen hesitated, face shifting. Finally, he gritted his teeth. “Alright. Be careful, okay?”