NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Trapped In Flooded Catacombs
Luke opened the chest. It was the first time he had received a reward in the dungeon like this. Sure, the twin kukris had been a gift of sorts—but this was different. This was systemic. The chest had materialized in the room, almost like it had been teleported there just for him.
It was massive, and as he looked inside, a soft red glow shimmered at the bottom. He reached in—and found something unexpected.
"A ring...?"
A golden band with a deep crimson gem. It was beautiful. Intricately made, glinting even in the low light of the dungeon. The kind of thing you'd expect in a high-end jewelry shop for ridiculous prices. Some rich fiancé would definitely drop a fortune on this.
He used Identify, and the system revealed its secrets:
[Ring of Fire (Uncommon)
Description: A simple ring forged by flame-worshipping cultists.
Enchantments:
[Cult Flame (Common)]: Despite its modest appearance, this ring grants the user the ability to summon a small flame—useful for lighting paths or starting fires.
Requirement: Lvl 8+ in any class or race]
The ring vanished from his hand.
[An item has been added to your inventory]
Luke opened his inventory to double-check. There it was, nestled between his kukris and other supplies. He reread the description, narrowing his eyes.
So I need to be at least level 8 in either class or race to equip this? That's new. Different from the kukris.
He summoned the ring again and tried to slip it onto his finger. It didn't budge. There was something—an invisible force—blocking it from sliding onto his hand.
So I literally can't equip it unless I meet the requirements... not even wear it.
He stayed crouched by the chest, thinking, then looked over at the skeleton standing nearby.
"Princess Charlie, can I see your hand?"
She perked up. Her glowing sockets blinked as she stared at the ring—and at him, still kneeling on one knee. Then she dropped her sword with a clatter and clutched her face with both hands.
"Huh?"
Luke tilted his head, confused.
"I want to put this on your finger," he said plainly.
Charlie stiffened. Her whole body shook like a leaf. Then—dramatically—she turned around, hand covering her jaw in mock shock.
What the hell is going on?
Luke walked up and gently took her hand. She shyly pointed at her ring finger. He tried to place the ring—
And nothing.
Still wouldn't fit.
"Didn't work," he muttered, standing up again.
Charlie drooped, visibly disappointed.
...Is this skeleton blushing?
Luke scratched his head. "I just wanted to see if I could give gear to you…"
He dismissed the ring and pulled open both his system screen and Charlie's. An idea hit him. He selected an item from his own inventory—his last smoke bomb—and dragged it over.
The system allowed it.
"Alright, Princess," he said. "Can you check your hand?"
Charlie nodded, then proudly held up a small black orb.
"It worked!"
Luke grinned wide. Not only could she receive gear… she could use it.
I can actually equip her. Equip my servant. Gear her up for battle.
For the first time, it felt real. He wasn't alone.
I can give my servant items!
That means…
A huge idea lit up in Luke's mind.
If I got my hands on some armor, for example, I could give it to Charlie! I could gear her up with items just as powerful as my pair of kukris.
He kept experimenting between their two system screens. After a few minutes of testing, he found something interesting.
He couldn't transfer his kukris to her. No matter what he tried, they wouldn't leave his inventory.
SoulBound. Makes sense.
But what caught his attention even more… was the fact he could rename her.
He quickly deleted the default tag—"Cursed Skeleton (Dark Lord's Servant)"—and replaced it with a simple name:
Charlie.
That should keep people from figuring out what she really is, especially during the Tutorial. I'll just need to find a full-body armor with a visor to hide her appearance.
Satisfied with the tweaks, he looked around the dungeon room.
"Time to find the next crystal. If it's not here, I'll have to take the stairs and check the next floor up."
He started slicing open the huge silk-wrapped cocoons scattered across the cavern. At first, he thought they might contain survivors or loot—but no. Just corpses. Mostly giant rats, long dead.
Meanwhile, Princess Charlie was hovering near the spider's corpse, stabbing it repeatedly with her sword. Luke didn't ask. He figured she was getting her revenge.
Guess the spider didn't feed on the skeletons… so it made do with anything that moved.
He kept cutting open the silk bundles until he spotted a soft blue glow inside one of them.
The crystal. Finally.
As he reached out to grab it, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned.
Charlie stood there with both hands outstretched, holding something. Her posture was awkward—almost shy.
"For me?" he asked.
She nodded enthusiastically.
Luke leaned in. It was a heart.
The spider's heart. Still dripping with dark ichor, pulsing faintly with leftover heat.
"Thanks?" he offered weakly.
He looked at the floor. The blood was pooling near her feet.
"I, uh… I already have a heart."
Charlie pointed to her mouth and mimed a chewing motion, pretending to bite the air with her toothless jaw.
"You… want me to eat it?"
She nodded again, proud.
Luke stared at the grotesque organ in her bony hands.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not that hungry."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Charlie's shoulders slumped. Even without flesh, her body language screamed disappointment.
Luke sighed and quickly changed the subject.
"Could you help me carry the crystal?"
The skeleton perked up again and gave a little salute, then reached down to grab the glowing blue stone.
Together, they walked toward the elevator. Two unlikely figures: a lone assassin… and the skeletal princess who offered him a real heart.
***
Luke sat inside the elevator as it rose—faster than before. So fast, in fact, that he had to remain seated just to keep his balance.
"At this rate, we'll be at the top in no time," he said aloud.
Princess Charlie nodded beside him, her bones rattling softly with the motion. Though the speed was welcome, Luke still had no idea how many floors remained.
With some time to spare, he decided to check the race skill Charlie had unlocked earlier.
[Demonic Servant Perception (Uncommon)]: Your senses have been enhanced by demonic influence, allowing you to detect subtle movements, hidden presences, and environmental shifts. Ambushes become less effective, and you may react to threats before they strike. At higher levels, your perception expands even further—capable of identifying magical disturbances and invisible entities with precision.
Luke looked at the skeleton in front of him, eyebrows slightly raised.
Not bad. She needed a perception boost anyway.
Still, he had no idea how Charlie perceived the world to begin with. She had no eyes, no ears, no flesh—just bones held together by some invisible force.
But logic had long since stopped applying.
I mean… I can duplicate knives in mid-air with my mind. What even is normal anymore?
With a shrug, he opened Charlie's system panel and allocated her remaining stat point.
Name: Princess Charlie
Level: 1
Rank: F
Class: [Warrior (Lvl 1)]
Race: Skeleton
Titles: [Servant of the Dark Lord]
Health Points (HP): 80/80
Mana Points (MP): 20/20
Stamina: 68/70
Stats:
Strength: 11
Agility: 6
Endurance: 7
Vitality: 8
Perception: 3
Intelligence: 2
Free Points: 1
Staring at the skeleton, he decided to put the point into Vitality. After all, she was still weak.
Updated Stats
Vitality: 8 -> 9
Free Points: 1 -> 0
Health Points (HP): 80/80 -> 90/90
***
The elevator hummed around them, climbing rapidly.
Luke timed the ascension—about twenty minutes between floors now. Much faster than before. But there was a new problem. The crystal was deteriorating faster too. He watched it pulse and flicker, tiny cracks appearing along its surface.
Figures. Increased speed means increased stress.
He exhaled slowly, his mind drifting to the fight with the spider. The Arachnid Nightmare, as he mentally dubbed it.
That battle had nearly cost him everything. If Charlie hadn't distracted the creature, he might still be cocooned in silk—or worse.
He opened his system and began allocating his own points. No more hoarding. If the next floor held another monster like that, he needed every advantage he could get.
Name: Luke
Level: 3
Rank: F
Race: Half-Demon
Titles: [Dark Lord]
Bloodline: [Bloodline of the Dark Demon]
Health Points (HP): 272/320
Mana Points (MP): 118/220
Stamina: 198/200
Stats:
Strength: 27
Agility: 36
Endurance: 20
Vitality: 32
Perception: 28
Intelligence: 22
Free Points: 2
Inventory: [Throwing Knife Holster], [Smoke Bomb (x1)], [Demonic Twin Kukris], [Ring of Fire]
Class Skills: [Basic Blade Handling (Common)], [Knife Throwing (Common)], [Twin Blade (Common)], [Assassin Dash (Uncommon)]
Race Skills: [Identify (Common)], [Demonic Perception (Uncommon)]
Bloodline Skill: [Servant of the Dark Lord (Unique)]
Servant: [Princess Charlie (Skeleton) - Lvl 1]
Luke assigned one free point to Vitality and another to Strength. If the elevator stopped in a place as dangerous as the last one, he needed to be ready.
Updated Stats
Strength: 27 -> 28
Vitality: 32 -> 33
Free Points: 2 -> 0
Health Points (HP): 272/320 -> 282/330
***
[Alert: Elevator Crystal has broken. Seek another crystal somewhere on this dungeon floor.]
Luke sighed and stepped out of the elevator.
"We don't have a choice."
He walked through the rest chamber, picked a fruit from the glowing tree, and ate it while moving. As he pushed open the heavy door leading to the next area, he froze.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
The entire floor was flooded. A vast, cavernous system submerged in waist-high water. Even the connecting tunnels were dripping, water running down the walls in endless rivulets. Somewhere deeper inside, the roar of rushing water echoed like a distant beast.
Faint blue crystals embedded in the ceiling cast an eerie light, illuminating the crystal-clear water below. Strange trees had rooted along stone ridges, and giant lily pads floated over the surface. Fireflies flitted between them, as if the dungeon had grown its own twisted imitation of life.
"Great. What if some of this is deep enough to drown in?"
He picked up a throwing knife and hurled it straight up at one of the ceiling crystals. It missed by a wide margin, splashing harmlessly back into the water.
And if the next crystal's locked in place, how the hell am I supposed to retrieve it?
He turned toward the cavern and the long tunnels ahead.
"I'll have to find another one… something I can actually reach."
Charlie nodded silently beside him.
Luke tested the water first, dipping in a foot. It only came up to his knee, but that didn't ease his tension. After that long river ride down the waterfall—and nearly drowning in the process—he'd developed a healthy fear of dungeon water.
Why did sliding down that crazy waterway only take a few hours, but this straight-up elevator feels like it's taking an eternity?
He shook the thought away. Logic didn't apply in dungeons.
"Ribbit."
Luke blinked. A small frog was hopping across one of the lily pads toward them. Before he could react, Princess Charlie brought down her sword with a wet splat.
[Princess Charlie has slain a Swamp Frog - Lv 1]
She raised her thumb in a satisfied gesture.
"Thanks… I guess."
***
They kept moving, careful with every step through the waist-deep water. Occasionally, glowing ceiling crystals gave them light, though none were close enough to grab. Still, Luke noticed something: the ceiling was gradually lowering.
If this keeps up, we'll hit a spot where I might actually be able to knock one of those down.
"Whoa—!" Luke gasped as he nearly stumbled. The water had deepened suddenly, now brushing his hips.
The roar of falling water grew louder. They reached a large chamber where a waterfall poured from a hole in the cavern wall. Two more tunnels branched off from there.
But before he could pick a path, his demon perception lit up.
Humanoid silhouettes stood silently in the darkness of the left tunnel.
[Drowned Walker - Lv 7]
[Drowned Walker - Lv 6]
[Drowned Walker - Lv 6]
The first one stepped into the crystal light. Luke didn't hesitate—he hurled a kukri and dropped it in a single hit.
"Grrrr…"
More emerged from the tunnel. Their skin was bloated, waterlogged, and split in places. Moss and small vines grew from open wounds. Wet clothes clung to their broken bodies, making them look like corpses that had been left underwater for years.
A loud splash echoed across the chamber.
Suddenly, a larger drowned appeared.
[Enraged Drowned Walker - Lv 9]
Luke and Charlie were surrounded.