Miri and Anne began exploring the keep some more, going into the deeper regions where the darkness was more prevalent.

  “Woah…you heard that?” Miri whispered to Anne as she halted, her ears picking up some kind of faint moaning sounds in the far distance.

  “Yes, I heard it. Look,” Anne affirmed, pointing down the end of the hall.

  Pale-blue, incorporeal outlines appeared at the far end of the corridor, floating and drifting aimlessly in a scattered distribution as they continued emitting their dreadful-sounding moans. The two women immediately recognized the outlines as to what they actually were—ghosts.

  Upon closer inspection, these ghosts seemed to be in the form of different people—wearing different faces, donning different attire, wielding different weapons. Despite that, they all seem to have roughly the same behavior that one would typically find in an undead spirit—a dull, semi-sentient consciousness with barely a sense of logic or reasoning, driven purely on mindless, instinctive emotions.

  Ghost Specter

  Level: 5

  HP: 42/42

  Ghost Phantom

  Level: 5

  HP: 36/36

  Ghost Wraith

  Level: 5

  HP: 31/31

  If Miri remembered correctly, ghosts came in different types, each with a distinct set of combative stats and traits that separate them from each other. Specters were usually the ghost equivalent of knights, phantoms were usually the ghost equivalent of mages, and wraiths were usually the ghost equivalent of rogues.

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  Based on what she could tell, there seemed to be just a bit more phantoms than there were other types of ghosts, which was likely due to them being comprised mostly of the dead spirits of the mages who had died here over a century ago during the rampage of the beast.

  “Damn, didn’t expect ghosts to wander around these parts,” Miri said softly.

  “Actually, it's not all that surprising,” Anne said. “Ghosts usually spawn into existence when a person whom the spirit originated from had died a particularly traumatic death and their bodies were not properly buried. Also, ghosts tend to linger in places near where they’d died or haunt places or people that they have a strong emotional connection with. Of course, ghosts are an infrequent site in populated areas due to the presence of ghost-warding charms and talismans, which are inexpensive and plentiful.”

  “Wow, you are quite the ghost expert,” Miri commented.

  “Why of course. It is a cleric’s duty to be familiar with both the living and the dead,” Anne responded. “If a person is alive, we will try our best to keep them alive. If a person is dead, we will make sure their remains are handled with care and respect.”

  “If there’s something strange…in your neighborhood…who you gonna call?” Miri sang under her breath, humming a familiar tune that you readers might recognize.

  “Hmm, what was that?” Anne asked.

  “Oh, nothing. Anyway, let’s take care of these ghosts,” Miri suggested.

  “Wait, Miri! These ghosts haven’t attacked us yet. Not all ghosts are hostile. Maybe these ones are peaceful. We shouldn’t be the aggressors in this situation.”

  Miri chuckled as though finding that possibility hilarious. “Yeah, sure. ‘Peaceful’ ghosts. We’ll see about that.” She approached the ghosts, arms wide open as if to intentionally announce her presence to them. “Hey, ghost buddies! How ya doing? Now, don’t be afraid. We come in peace. So, if you’ll just kindly let us pass through you, we’ll promise to leave you alone and be on our way. How does that sound?”

  Upon seeing the mage reveal herself, the ghosts let out a loud, drawn-out moan before drifting towards her, the ghastly weapons in their hands raised up high as if to initiate a battle.

  “Well, so much for ‘peaceful’,” Miri said with a sigh as she readied her own staff, preparing to cast a spell. “They’re definitely no Capser, that’s for sure.”