After we went upstairs, I knocked on the Guildmaster's door and heard him speak."Come in, please," he said.Isabella and I walked in and shut the door behind us."Ah, good. It's you two. Isabella and...Markus?" Gearo said.I just sighed."His name is Mizik. Miz-ick. It's not that difficult to remember, Guildmaster..." Isabella said."Right...my apologies. Mizik and Isabella. I was just about to send for you two because I have your reward ready for the request. The total sum of money is around 12,500 gold coins. Which is around four years of wages at a regular job. Well done!" Gearo said."What rank was that quest?" I asked."It was originally A-Rank, but after we sent the previous group and they didn't return, we upgraded it to S-Rank. We have a system to rank the pay of requests involving a combination of the ranking of the request itself, the manpower needed, and also the payment from the one posting the request. ""I'm sure that's very interesting, but I have a-"Before I could fi

At some point during our journey, we entered a forest steeped in a heavy fog."This is a really powerful illusion spell..." Cassandra said quietly."Can you dispel it?" I asked.She shook her head."If I could cast and control wide-reaching giant illusions, I might... But I can't do that...even with Deception," she said."Yeah...this is way above my skill level, too. I don't think I could touch this one," Akari said.I tried to grasp the magic hanging over this place, but I couldn't.I would need a significant amount of time to come close to that, and I wasn't about to waste any more of it.The journey had taken longer than expected. We were tired from moving so quickly to cover lost time...thanks to Akari.Regardless, we continued onward."Mizik darling, before we leave this place, the fog will have to be dispelled. It looks like it's designed to keep people from leaving," Cassandra said."Alright. Everyone stick close. We don't want to get separated in the fog!" I said aloud.At onc

As Akari and I walked, we began to see more and more regular servants cleaning the mansion.Akari seemed to be scared of them because she said they were secretly undead cloaked in illusions.Apparently, she had been attacked multiple times by illusions from her past. The one of me was by far the most aggressive, however.I took comfort in knowing Akari might have been secretly terrified of me. I didn't think I was cruel, I just despised her deceptive behavior.Right now, she seemed perfectly normal. I found myself beginning to trust her.Eventually, I saw Leiso walking towards us."Here we go again..." I said.I raised my shotgun and prepared to fire."Relax," she said. "I come in peace. I just want to talk.""I know you aren't really Leiso," I said."Obviously. This is an illusion. I chose this form because it brings you comfort. I have a question for you, though... Mizik, was it?" The fake Leiso said."Are you the one in charge here?""I am a manifestation of his power containing hi

After descending several more floors and fighting through a literal army of undead, I could feel something incredibly powerful nearby.The tunnels we were currently walking through had a dark red aesthetic to them.The lanterns on the walls had an eerie glow in the dim light.Eventually Akari and I, along with my small-but-potent army of undead, approached a set of massive double doors.I could feel a vast amount of magic behind them...Akari also looked somewhat afraid. The compass was leading us straight to these very doors.Somewhere on the other side, Isabella was being held... And the lich, Nevarius, was likely there as well.I prepared myself for battle and kicked the doors as hard as I could.They flew open and I walked straight into the massive room.What I saw was quite astonishing.The room was enormous. There were strange carvings all along the walls everywhere.I could see lights shining from the walls, ceiling, and floor to keep the room lit perfectly.There was a set of

We reappeared in front of the main entrance of the mansion.Once the shadows sank under our feet and disappeared, we began walking towards the front gates.It was already morning. We had been down there for the entire night...The groundskeepers and gardeners were all celebrating as well.I guess it meant that they were truly free.As we walked away, we saw the fog over the forest fade and when we turned, we saw the mansion in its true state.It really was a mansion...just that it looked hundreds of years old.It was falling apart everywhere and didn't look like it would even be safe to stand next to it."Huh...that's interesting..." I said.At the same time, the illusions covering the gardeners dispersed. They looked to be rotten husks and skeletons.Their bodies crumbled to dust and their souls were released.Lastly, I saw a burst of magic from the center top of the mansion and a lich flew up holding a lantern.With a wave of his lantern, a maw of gigantic gnashing teeth shot from o