Getting to level twenty-five only took another few days. I knew that every five levels, after the boss, you’d encounter an increase in the difficulty of the ghosts. I definitely wanted all three girls to be prepared before we headed to the last four floors. However, I also noted that with Celeste here, our party was at the strongest it had ever been.

I made sure to heal her and clear her of all poisons and curses just in case. All of my girls were back to full strength as we entered the twenty-fifth floor. This floor was actually pretty dangerous. Besides the traps, one of the monster types was called a Hidden Stalker. They are hidden like those bunnies from Mina’s Dungeon. However, these weren’t nonlethal. Rather, they pounced on an enemy when they least expected it.

My sense life was vital on this level. We had to move slowly and carefully to be able to take care of the Stalkers and the traps. We found the library after only a few hours with much of the level still bare, so we decided to make lunch there and rest. It was pretty exhausting dealing with the Hidden Stalkers on this level, not to mention remaining vigilant for whenever the boss wanted to show itself.

Once we got the fire going, I decided to use some of the cook drops which had status boosts. We were going to eventually stumble across this level’s boss, so I wanted to make sure that we had every advantage we could when we encountered it so that it fell quickly. I filled up four bowls and all. I found that Celeste still responded to food in much the same was I was used to. She would eat twice her weight of food if you let her, which was still less than anyone else. She ate excitedly with a smile on her face.

“Master, did you want to look at the murals?” Miki asked curiously.

I stood up and shined an orb across the mural. This one seemed to be talking about the fairies. They were attacked and enslaved by the slavers who had discovered her nest. All of the fairies were turned into slaves by the greedy slavers and the forest caught on fire during the attack. The Faery Queen ran as her nest fell, seeking asylum from her friend, Karr. Once in Karr’s mansion, she started to live with him. Having lost everything else important to her, she haad a renewed interest in the love she first had for Karr. Eventually, one night, she gave herself to him.

I lowered my head and bit my lip. That didn’t really say anything I didn’t already know. The story so far was pretty simple. Karr had a life where he hated slavery. He found the waters of life and sold them to grow rich. He started using his money to free slaves. Somehow, during one of his trips to the fairy’s nest, slavers followed him. They attacked the nest, killed all of her underlings, and then she had no choice but to flee back to the mansion and live with Karr. He accepted her, and they began to have a relationship. Then, something happened, and she turned evil, killed Karr, and cursed the mansion.

That’s a pretty big leap. What did Karr do? Or was it Karr at all? And more importantly… where did Celeste come from?

“One more mural to go…” I sighed. “I hope you have some answers for me.”