Fart raised his tower shield, and slammed it down on the neck of the downed, Skeleton Wizard. "Done!" The Sentinel cried, decapitating the undead magic-user as its HP drained to zero, and disappeared into motes of light.

Enemies defeated! Raid Party has gained a total of 6,030,000 Experience, which will be divided among the eight members.

The exhausted breaths of everyone in the Raid Party could be heard, holding onto themselves to steady their deep breathing. Except of Reed as he sat on one of the toppled, rotten bookshelves containing moldy books.

"Oh man!" Fart shouted with a satisfied smile, putting his tower shield on his back. "That was awesome!"

"Awesome?!" Aphmau snapped, her voice echoing in the large, coffin-like room, formerly containing dozens of skeleton-like enemies. "We nearly died!"

"This... this is insane!" Penny cried, holding her bruised, shaking body as Rune looked around at the loot in awe. Talia went around healing everyone –Berry was first, of course- as Reed just stood at the entrance to the next area that leads to Pinwheel; uninjured and bored while deciding how to split the loot.

But for low-level players like Penny and Alexis, it was a huge boost to their total Experience. And since the skeletons they fought before running into this room, to escape the Elite, made it close for them to level up. Penny helped Alexis grab all of the scattered loot, picking various things off of the yellow-stained ground before giving them to Reed.

Rune walked over and sat near Aphmau, who was sitting on the wooden remains of a crate; she didn't want her pink clothes to get dirty from the moldy floor. "Look at the bright side," Rune began as Fart ran up to Reed. "We're alive, we got Experience, and we got sweet~ loot!"

The events within the rotten, padded walls of this room could easily be remembered and hated.

First there was there was the Skeleton Rouges, wielding rusted daggers as they hid behind, and under, the various rubble in the room.

Everyone handled that well, and quickly eliminated the Skeleton Rouges. Cutting down their small, frail bodies as their grey skin tightly stretched over their uneven bones.

Then the soggy, moldy bookshelves that lined the walls supernaturally flew across the room, aimed at every Adventurer in the room. Only Aphmau, Berry, and Penny were hit, getting the {Stunned} status inflicted on their bodies.

Reed simply used his brute strength to slice the flying bookshelves into soggy, moldy splinters of wood, as Fart used [Bull Rush] to charge and tackle Talia out of the way, while Alexis and Run rapidly used [Blink] instead.

Then several Skeleton Wizards popped out, ripping the old and moldy padded walls that cover the entire room as if it was paper, making a hole to limp out of to enter the room. They made a clacking sound as they moved, just like the other skeleton enemies they fought. Thankfully, Talia used [Mass Cure], a skill that removes negative status effects from multiple people.

So everyone was able to fight as Talia used her defensive magic skills to protect everyone as Penny supported with healing abilities. Reed just ordered everyone who can swing a weapon to just rush at the Skeleton Wizards; they a have low defense since they only wore magic-infused rags.

As they attacked the Skeleton Wizards, they kept interrupting their spell casting; most magic-using enemies had that exploitable weakness, since they stand still for a few moments while channeling their magic before casting a spell.

When enough damage is dealt to an enemy, it causes them to stagger, breaking any concentration they had. So the Skeleton Wizards couldn't fire any type of magic. Honestly, everyone thought it was the easiest part of the fight.

Then the clacking got louder...

A Totem Skeleton, which is literally a thick totem pole made out of hundreds of skeletons, burst out from the disgusting floor, and wiggled up to the ceiling. Being made out of hundreds of limbs, it wasn't short on hands to swing weapons or shoot magical projectiles.

The dozens of skulls imbedded into the abomination simultaneously whispered a forgotten language, casting different projectile spells. The only good thing about this scenario was that the Totem Skeleton couldn't move.

The nearly killed it. Fart, being the only other veteran gamer in the group, shouted that a Totem Skeleton needs to be killed in a specific way, or it will resurrect itself and its passive ability would activate.

Reed, Penny, and Talia pulled out some green resin to cast a healing spell on the monster, as undead monsters have a severe weakness to healing abilities.

But Talia 'accidently' used blue resin! So instead of using a skill like [Heal], she used [Blizzard], and killed the Totem Skeleton while catching everyone in the large frost storm!

Everyone got the {Slow} status effect from being caught in [Blizzard]'s attack range while everyone's HP slowly declined, as frost covered the floor. The Totem Skeleton revived, and used its passive ability to resurrect any undead monsters that died recently!

So they had to defeat the Skeleton Rouges and Wizards all over again! With the {Slow} debuff while having to deal with a slippery floor; good thing the enemies kept slipping and falling down on the ice.

Eventually, they managed to kill them, and since all of the enemies resurrected, the entire Raid Party got so much Experience. Naturally, Fart was excited to kill something as Reed just sliced everything in his path with a bored look.

Aphmau let out a smile as Rune leaned against her for support. It was a good test to see how strong they are. "Yeah," The meif'wa nodded. "I know one thing Rune: we're getting stronger."

"...Strong enough to find Simon?" Rune asked hopefully.

Aphmau immediately shook her head. "Not even close, Rune." She let out a sad sigh. "Not even close."

----------

"Yo, dude!" Fart yelled as he ran up to Reed, who is standing near the entrance to Pinwheel's lair.

"Oh, hey," Reed gave the Sentinel a brief nod. "Can they hear us?"

"Nah," Fart waved him off. "If we keep our voices down, we won't have an eavesdroppers." Fat then glanced at the gathered loot at Reed's feet. "So who's going to get what?"

"I've already decided when these items first dropped." Reed revealed. "I just wanted to look busy so no one suspect me."

Fart knew immediately that something is wrong. His normal, smiling face took on a serious look. "What's the situation? Ambushers?"

"No," Reed shook his head at the concern, but it was still common that other people would steal the rewards of the dungeon by killing the active players –who were weakened by the boss and various enemies– inside. "Sabotage."

"Is this about Alexis' slip-up?" Fart asked. "Dude, she just overestimated the resin she used."

"That's the problem," Reed recalled his experience from the Beta. "She only used enough for her paralyzing skill to effect the skeletons. For some reason, Alexis was caught in her own skill."

"Come to think of it, she is only level five..." Fart started to think back when he watched the fight. "...But it was also a stronger paralysis; the skeletons could at least flinch, but you, Aphmau, Rune, and Alexis were frozen like stone."

"So you saw it too." Said Reed, pretending to look critically at the loot gathered before him. "Alexis' [Lightning Trap] is too weak for something like that; it should have worn off as the skeletons were burning, but they stayed frozen as they burned."

When monsters take on the {Burning} status, it causes them to frantically move around in a panic-like manner. Who wouldn't if their body was set on fire?

Fart could see where this was going. "You think Berry and Talia tried to get rid of you guys?"

"They tried to." Reed clarified, casually inspecting some of the resin crystals that dropped when the enemies died, to keep up the act. "If they got rid of us, there would only be you and Penny to deal with."

Fart just laughed. "As if they could kill you."

"It was a stupid plan," Reed nodded. He gave his friend a serious look. "But they're stupid enough to try it. Haven't you notice them every time they interact with me?"

"They're hostile towards you." Fart rubbed his chin with his only hand while thinking deep in his thoughts; he can feel ghost pains when he got ambushed in an alleyway and got stabbed. "Then again, everyone who was in the Beta gets a glare or excluded; even our old group gets glares from the Beta players, considering what we did."

Reed just shrugged. "The rewards were worth it though."

"Of course they were," Fart, along with everyone in the group, agreed to complete the First Fiend Raid, killing the most unfair boss in the whole game: Manus, Father of the Abyss. Fart grinned at the aftermath. "A lot of people were pretty salty after we got the reward."

"Do you ever regret it?" Reed asked, remembering how many towns he and his group wiped off the face of Estorra. "Doing what we did to get ahead?"

"At the cost of becoming infamous among the Beta players?" Fart gave Reed a playful, and painful, slap on the back. "Nah! We got to take the reward, and all our stuff, with us in the final version of the game."

"And we got to take it with us when we transported here." Reed's cold face formed a small smile for a moment. "It still feels good to remember the old days." Reed's smile vanished as he gathered the loot and turned to walk over to the group; Talia and Berry were somewhat away from everyone else as they talked feverishly about something. "We need to keep a close eye on those two."

Seriously, for Reed, they look very familiar.

----------

He tightened the rags around his frail body as he limped deeper into this place; the sound of clacking echoed throughout the dark hallway in this dungeon.

The cold air didn't have any effect on him, he is used to it: from the cold stone that he sleeps on in the streets, to the cold attitudes from people.

He followed those people into the dungeon, the ones who are going to fight Pinwheel. Muffled screaming can be heard from behind him as the chains around his waist tightened.

He turned around and saw the people he tied up with moldy rope, dragging them across the wet floor with the chains he wrapped around their feet. He stuffed their mouths with dirty cloths he gathered from the sewers of the Gaping Dragon, gagging them as they wriggled and squirmed to break free.

He looked closely at one of the people he is dragging, her tan body is deathly still as her brown eyes are bloodshot. A foul odor originated from her body as a large stain is present on her faded-blue pants.

Perhaps it is the grime in her blonde hair? The smell from the cloth he gathered in the acidic feces of the Gaping Dragon? Or maybe it is the stench of her corpse, or was it the stench of her releasing her bowels and bladder? The latter is what usually happens after someone dies- it is so messy and frustrating.

That's why he stole food from the market while everyone was distracted, and used the goods to feed his captives. He needs them alive for the sacrifice.

Well, technically, he only needs three people who are related: a father, mother, and a daughter. Good thing that farmer lady has three daughters; he only needs one of her children alive.

He limped over to the deceased female, undoing her binds and chains. The father glared at him with his brown eyes, sweat and blood on his tan face that causes his blonde hair to cling to his bruised skin.

The father of the family tried to kick him, but it was useless as the mother cried at the slow death of her eldest daughter. Her second eldest and youngest resembled their late sister, with the difference of being alive and full of fear as the man in rags pulls out a rusty dagger and starts sawing off the limbs of the dead daughter.

That alone causes an uproar, traumatizing the other children, enraging the father, and emotionally torturing the mother as they all could only watch as their loved one is getting mutilated.

The man wiped the dagger on the rags covering his body, already splattered with blood from his messy butchering. After her limps were removed, he placed them into his worn-out backpack on his back, except for one leg. He sat down on the late, daughter's body as if it was a cushioned seat. Taking a break from dragging such uncooperative people as he pulled the severed leg up to his face.

He moved the rags covering his face, just a little bit. The others couldn't see his face as there are so many layers of material covering his entire body.

He then pressed the leg up to his diseased-filled mouth, munching on the flesh of the dead as he glanced at the notification screen.

You have eaten flesh from an estorran! Your HP, MP, and SP, as increased by 50! This is doubled since you ate from a female child, granting you a total increase of 100 HP, MP, and SP!

After staining the fabric around his mouth, he continued to feast on the leg until it was nothing but bones. He got up, and dragged the thrashing farm family down the dungeon.

He pulled out another limb, already rotting. But he didn't care since he hasn't eaten in a long time, and when he does, it is much worse than rotten flesh.

He glanced at the vomit-green ring on his cold index finger. Studded with bits of bones originated from various species of Estorra– technically, it's the people who live on Estorra, not the fiends trying to kill them.

<Ring of Lilith>: A ring of preserved vomit from a gluttonous woman who studded the bones of her meals into this ring as a trophy, and a reminder of her dark cravings.

Lilith was one of the Destroyers' generals, as she was tasked with managing and emptying the mass graves provided for the Destroyers' genocidal campaign. Later he, and the other generals, discovered that Lilith was actually feasting on the dead bodies without restraint; may they be man, woman, or child.

The Destroyer, or his generals, didn't care since she did her job of effectively emptying the mass graves.

[Rating: Unique] [Durability: 40/500] [Item Type: Ring] [Weight: Light]

* Eating flesh from a corpse, of a native of Estorra, will give you permanent +50 HP, MP, and SP.

* Easting flesh from an Adventurer will give you permanent +100 HP, MP, and SP.

* Eating more than the minimum amount will grant you extra boosts at the cost of this item's durability.

* If you eat flesh from a female child –Lilith's personal favorite– the effects are doubled.

Conditions: The wielder must have eaten flesh from one's own species.

He'll have to get his ring repaired soon, with its durability so low, it's clear that he ate from so many corpses that he lost count.

A/N: I've gotten inspired! I've seen another Dreams of Estorra fic where they mentioned characters from Aphmau's other role-play series, Minecraft Diaries! So I've decided to incorporate that into this story, and don't worry, you don't have to know about Minecraft Diaries to understand as the other characters will be used for different purposes. Plus, I'm going to describe their personalities as the story progresses, but not spoil anything that happened in Minecraft Diaries. Don't worry, I'll let you all know when they're introduced.

As for that ring, the one that the man in rags is wearing? I just boosted and darkened the effects from an item from a video game I used to play. The ring in the game grants you extra stamina, and a high boost to your health and high health regeneration for five minutes... but you have to eat a corpse.

In order to get it, you have to make a deal with the leader of a cult of cannibals who are eating the flesh of the corpses in the catacombs. Then, you have to persuade a priest to follow you, going to a hidden location for a "feast ". Finally, you have to kill the priest, and eat his flesh to receive the blessing from the Mistress of Decay and she'll give you the ring.