Chloe had been thinking about the whole Morikhan vision thing earlier, but decided to shove it to the back of her mind. She could worry about that later. Right now, she had way more important things to handle, like spending all those juicy trait points she'd worked so hard for.

  As she started fiddling with her system, Sierra glanced back at her. "You done?"

  "Not yet. I gotta spend my trait points first!"

  "Finally, something that’s not weird."

  Chloe blinked. “Wait... are you saying I’m weird?”

  “Kinda,” Sierra said, way too casually for Chloe’s liking. Then she turned away, already walking off. “I’ll look around while you do... whatever it is.”

  Chloe puffed out her cheeks in a pout, but didn’t say anything. Honestly, she kind of liked Wolfie now, even if she said rude stuff sometimes.

  Besides, this wasn’t the time for arguing. It was trait buying time.

  [Displaying Available Traits for Purchase]

  [Each trait costs 1 Trait Point, unless stated otherwise.]

  Brawler’s Bones (Uncommon):

  Your skeleton has reinforced itself. Unarmed strikes deal increased damage, and you take slightly reduced damage from blunt force impacts.

  Expert Flesh Eater (Epic – Cost: 2 Trait Points):

  Consuming fresh flesh grants a temporary increase to Strength and Speed. This effect stacks the more flesh is consumed, though the boosts diminish over time if not maintained. Particularly large or potent meals may offer enhanced bonuses.

  Phantom Limb (Rare – Cost: 2 Trait Points):

  You can now control Leftie with greater range and precision while detached. It is capable of limited flight, improved grip strength, and has enhanced magical capabilities.

  Cloak of Deep Shadow (Epic – Cost: 4 Trait Points):

  An upgraded form of Cloak of Old Night. Its storage capacity expands significantly, now capable of holding larger items, including full corpses. In addition, a shadow spirit now inhabits the cloak, and may act to protect its wearer, occasionally lashing out when its wearer is threatened.

  But before she could really dive into the new traits, something felt off. Chloe tilted her head, then glanced at her shoulder. Wait… where’s Leftie?

  There was a moment of silence before she spotted a faint twitch just off to the side. A few familiar fingers wiggled helplessly from beneath a piece of rubble.

  Her face lit up with delight and disbelief. “Leftie! What’re you doing under there?"

  She jogged over and tugged Leftie free, brushing off the dust and giving him a few gentle pats. “There we go. Back where you belong. You okay?”

  Leftie gave her a thumbs up, then scrambled up to her shoulder like usual. Chloe felt relieved. That had been a bit too close for comfort. I seriously need to stop leaving him behind like that.

  They turned toward the floating list again. Chloe scanned through the trait names, tapping her chin in thought. “Okay, first up, Brawler’s Bones. Says it makes me hit harder and take punches better.”

  She squinted at the screen, then glanced at Leftie. “What do you think?”

  Leftie gave a slow wobble, clearly unimpressed. Chloe nodded along.

  “Yeah, same. I already have bones. Don’t need fancy ones. Unless they come with spikes or something.” Spiky bones would’ve been cool.

  The next trait made her pause. “Expert Flesh Eater? Wait… eating fresh flesh makes me faster and stronger? That’s… actually kinda cool. But flesh doesn’t always mean brains, so I don’t know how I feel about that.”

  Leftie gave a noncommittal shrug, he didn’t seem disappointed, but he wasn’t jumping for joy either. Chloe snorted. "Fine, fine. Moving on.”

  Her eyes lit up as the next one came up. “Ooh, now Phantom Limb, that one’s you, buddy!” she said, nudging Leftie with a grin. “You’d get to float around and stuff."

  Leftie instantly exploded into excited motion as he wiggled in place. Chloe giggled. “Knew it. You do love showing off.”

  Then her gaze drifted lower, settling on the last trait on the list. Cloak of Deep Shadow.

  Her smile faded into something softer. She didn’t need to read the description, just seeing the name was enough. Her fingers brushed the edge of Cloaky, and the fabric rippled gently under her touch. It was subtle, but it felt like something inside had stirred. Like Cloaky already knew.

  “As much as I wanna let you fly, Leftie... I think Cloaky’s up next. He's been through a lot.”

  Leftie wilted a little in her hand, but gave a soft tap of understanding. Chloe smiled and gave him a small pat. “You’ll get your turn. I promise.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  [Trait Purchased: Cloak of Deep Shadow]

  [A Trait has been upgraded: Cloak of Old Night >> Cloak of Deep Shadow]

  [Trait Points Remaining: 0]

  The moment Chloe confirmed the upgrade, a ripple of movement ran through Cloaky, like a slow shiver fluttering down her spine. It wasn’t violent, but definitely noticeable. She blinked and reached over her shoulder, fingers curling around the fabric as she tugged it open.

  What met her eyes wasn’t just the usual folds of cloth. The inner space had changed. It looked... deeper now. Broader. Darker. And definitely more shadowy-er.

  Is that a word? It is now, she thought, nodding to herself as she squinted into the inky blackness.

  She reached in with one hand, expecting to maybe feel the bottom of the cloak somewhere, but her fingers just kept going. It was like dipping her arm into a well with no end. Intrigued, she leaned in, her face hovering close as she tried to see just how far it went.

  Then she paused, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. Hang on... I’m kind of a corpse, right? So…

  Curious, Chloe gripped the sides of her head, gave it a twist, and popped it right off. Holding it with both hands, she carefully lowered it into the cloak's dark interior.

  The moment her face passed through the veil of fabric, everything went completely black. No light. Just a vast, consuming darkness that stretched in every direction. She tried tilting her head around, well, tilting her head as she held it, but even as she peered left and right, there was nothing to see.

  “Eh, kinda boring,” she muttered, her voice echoing softly through the hollow dark.

  She pulled her head back out and placed it back onto her neck with a practiced twist and a little bounce to make sure it sat right. Just as she blinked the darkness from her eyes, a voice called out from across the chamber. “Are you done yet?”

  Chloe spun around. “Yup! Cloaky just got a major glow-up! He can hold bodies now and everything!”

  Sierra stared at her in silence, then blinked slowly, like her brain had to process the statement before reacting. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. Anyway, I checked the rest of the chamber. Couldn't find any exits."

  “So… we’re stuck?”

  “Not exactly. There’s still the big door.”

  “Oh right! Yeah, okay, let’s open it!”

  Chloe trotted across the stone floor toward the towering doors. Her steps were light, almost bouncy, and she hummed to herself like this was all just for fun.

  Sierra joined her a second later. "Any ideas on how we might open these doors?"

  Chloe gave a thoughtful hum and reached out, tapping the stone with her knuckle. “Maybe you gotta offer it something? Or say the magic words?”

  Sierra arched a brow. “Like what?”

  Chloe grinned and cupped her hands dramatically around her mouth. “EXCUSE ME, WE WOULD LIKE TO ENTER THE DUNGEON NOW, PLEASE.”

  They waited. Nothing happened.

  Sierra dragged a hand down her face. “Chloe…”

  Chloe gave a shrug. “Okay, if the nice way didn’t work, maybe we go with the other way.”

  “The other way?” Sierra asked warily.

  Chloe’s grin stretched just a little too wide. “We hit it really, really hard.”

  She stretched her arms wide and cracked her knuckles with confidence. It probably didn’t help much when it came to smashing doors, but it felt right. Behind her, Cloaky fluttered with a burst of energy, rippling like it was excited to see what kind of chaos was about to unfold.

  Sierra watched her with a resigned look. After a long pause, she sighed. “You know what? At this point... sure."

  Chloe spun in place, fists raised and a wild grin stretching across her face. “Let’s go punch some doors!”

  With mutual determination, they turned toward the massive stone slabs. Its surface was worn but firm, covered in faint patterns worn smooth by time. Definitely not the kind of thing that wanted to be opened. All the more reason to try.

  Clapping her hands once, Chloe narrowed her eyes and locked onto the stone like it had personally called her names. “Alright, door. You brought this on yourself.”

  She took a few steps back, bounced on her heels, and rolled her shoulders. Then, with all the strength her undead limbs could muster, she punched the stone dead center.

  It didn’t move. Not even a little bit.

  "Darn." she muttered, shaking out her hand with a wince. The stone hadn’t budged, and while pain wasn’t exactly a problem for her, there was still a very real sense of insult. “Guess we’re gonna have to do this the hard way.”

  From beside her, Sierra raised an eyebrow. “That wasn’t the hard way?”

  Chloe grinned without missing a beat. “Nah. That was the warm up.”

  They kept going. Chloe kicked the slab with the heel of her boot, elbowed it with far too much flair, and at one point even jumped up to headbutt the door just to see if it made a difference.

  Sierra eventually joined in, claws out, slashing at the edges and muttering under her breath the entire time. Neither of them made much progress at first, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

  Then, just as Chloe reeled back for another punch, something shifted. She saw a very small fracture, running from the point of her last hit toward the edge.

  “Oh! Did you see that?!” she gasped, pointing at the crack.

  Sierra leaned closer. “Was that... you?”

  Grinning like she'd just been given permission to go wild, Chloe reeled back and gave the door another hearty smack. The crack deepened with a satisfying crunch. "It's working, keep hitting the door!"

  She held out her hand and called up her mana, pulling power from the stone beneath her feet. Rough chunks of earth curled up her arm, wrapping around her fist like a spiky glove made of rock. But she wasn’t stopping there.

  Chloe added a layer of ice over the stone. It spread like sharp, frosty frosting, cold and shiny. Now her fist looked like something built to punch through mountains, and look cool doing it. I’m totally calling this the super fist.

  This time, when Chloe punched the door, it cracked hard. A whole chunk of stone broke loose and clattered to the ground like a shattered tooth.

  Sierra narrowed her eyes, clearly not to be outdone. Shadows rippled down her arms, wrapping around her claws like liquid ink. The magic clung to her fingers, twitching like it wanted out.

  One by one, they hammered the door with everything they had, Chloe with her spiky, frosty super fist, and Sierra with her shadowy claws. Each blow sent chips of stone flying. Cracks began to spread across the surface, crawling from edge to edge.

  This is weirdly satisfying, Chloe thought, slamming her fist into the growing fracture. Dust and debris scattered with every strike, filling the air with the gritty scent of ancient stone.

  Minutes passed. If Chloe could sweat, she probably would’ve been dripping by now, but being undead meant she just looked very determined instead of exhausted. Sierra, on the other hand, was clearly starting to slow.

  And then, at last, it happened. With one final, synchronized strike, they smashed into the weakened center of the door, and it gave in with a heavy crunch. A massive section collapsed inward, sending up a cloud of dust.

  Chloe immediately flailed her cloak like a makeshift fan, trying to clear the air. For a few seconds, they just stood there in silence, blinking at the space they’d carved out with sheer determination.