The room had several jail cells full of possessed humans. There were some small Gimards in the room that was moving in and out of the cell.

“Is that a Gimard?” Dyne was surprised to see a small chain-like snake.

It clearly had the form of the Gimard but was way smaller.

“Well, it makes sense...” Dyne realized. The Serus gave birth to more Serus. Amid the Mist, this would allow them to give birth to more soul creatures.

Looking at the damaged door, some of the Serus that grew older must have attacked the door to get out.

Dyne ignored all these. As the Serus and the humans ignored their presence, Dyne started to look for the Sunrise Key. 

A peculiar treasure chest was placed on the shelf near the jail.

Dyne opened it and found the key. He happily took it then began to wonder what happened. 

“Why would this item be here?” Dyne pondered. The main difference between the game and this reality was how the items were left around. Why would the Sunrise Key be left here in a very noticeable and suspicious place?

“The King left a letter in his room and stated that if someone were to read the letter, that person must have had the strength to travel in the Mist. He  made these locks was to prove that whoever is traveling here has the wisdom of a human...” Dyne realized the King's intentions.

“This King Drake is really smart.” Dyne couldn’t help but praise the King.

“Ugh!” One of the possessed cried.

“Neeeee!” Another ran and bumped the cage.

“Rugggghhhh!”

The possessed humans began to moan as they took a closer look at Dyne but ignored him.

“Why won’t these monsters attack Vahn and the group? Was it because of the Ra-Seru? Did they think that Vahn and his team were possessed by Serus as well?” Dyne guessed.

Eventually, Dyne moved out and glanced at the large stone door that led to the next level of the Castle. The Stone Door blended well with the wall that it looked like it was a wall. But Dyne knew that this was one way to keep the monsters from reaching the upper levels. As such, if anyone would ever reach the top level, they would be humans.

A lot of monsters and Gimards were on the floor they were and even patrolled down the stairs. It was too conspicuous, and Dyne didn’t want to open the door.

“If I'm right, then on the upper floors, there should only be Gimards. If these Skeletons and Drake Ghost have resurrected from the dead bodies in the cemetery, then they shouldn’t be up there... I need to think of a way to draw their attention.”

Dyne looked around and found several chandeliers at the top.

“I guess it’s time to reveal that...” Dyne smiled.

He ordered Number 1 to reveal the one weapon he hid when he went out. He barely had enough time to fashion it and only made several arrows.

Number 1 spat out a bow and some arrows.

Rim Elm had a very primitive design for their bows and arrows. Most of their arrows used wood as they could not make it out of steel. As such, it was rarely used, even against the Gobu Gobu. Dyne asked them as a group to craft a bow with a specific design, which surprised the hunters. The newly crafted bow had more than twice the power of their own designs. The Hunters were impressed, but sadly, none of them were good enough to use it in the one week they trained.

Dyne aimed for one of the ropes that tied the chandelier and released his arrow.

His training in the military had a diverse skillset. And he was very proficient with the arrow.

The arrow flew and sliced the rope causing the chandelier to fall on the ground.

Below, several Skeletons were moving and didn’t even see the chandelier fall on them.

CRASH!

The loud sounds echoed out as the Skeletons began to screech.

The Gimards from the top floor all began to move and race towards where they heard the sounds.

Dyne led his team towards the stone door with the Sun's symbol, and he used the Sunrise key. With a heavy push, they opened the stone door and immediately closed it.

What they saw was a wide and dark staircase that led towards the next level. The staircase had no enemies, and the group continued to move to the next level.

Upon reaching the second level, Dyne sighed in relief. His assumptions were correct. As he looked around, he found that there were fewer monsters in the area before them. The room was very dark as no light reached it. The sounds of rushing waters could be heard, and Dyne knew that this was Drake Water.

Every floor had two canals on both ends of the large hall.

“Looks like I was right. No monsters here.”

Logically speaking, he thought that the higher levels which were locked in should have little Serus. In the game, there were three keys needed to access all the floors. But since this wasn’t like in the game where the random encounter was everywhere, Dyne assumed that the second level would only have very few enemies as it was in between two locked doors.

Dyne then led his crew. It was at this point that the power of the Incense disappeared.

Dyne saw a Gimard walking and was startled. He sent his team to hide in the sides.

“How?” He cursed. But then he looked around and noticed that there were fewer Gimards in this area, and many of them looked smaller.

“Young Gimards?” Dyne wondered.

He saw several smaller Gimards down the lower levels, but many of them were adults. Yet, in this room, there wasn’t even a single adult.

“Could these Gimards be the child Serus of the Serus that the people wore?” Dyne guessed.

He then tried to sense the Mist.

“That’s it! The Mist in this area is weaker since it only has a few entry points. No wonder the Gimards could not grow into adults and multiply as fast as they could downstairs.” 

In the game, King Drake ordered all his subjects to lock themselves up in jails and wear Serus. This was so that the entire Kingdom wouldn’t be able to harm anyone else if humans would reach this place.

Dyne guessed that because of the Mist, the Gimards that the people wore gave birth to other Gimards. But since they couldn’t attach themselves to anyone else, they became wandering Serus.

“Dead smell gone,” Bertugo warned.

Dyne noticed that the Incense had indeed run out.

“Thanks, Bertugo. But let’s try something first.” Dyne smiled.

With a jar full of water and knowing that there would be more Drake water flowing nearby, Dyne made Bertugo ambush the Gimard.

Bertugo grabbed the small Gimard, and they ran back to the entrance. 

There, they killed the child Gimard and Dyne channeled his ability. But this time, Dyne decided to pour out the experience and burning energy to Brod and Bertugo.

After warning his team not to shout, Dyne and the two goblins suffered a great burning sensation.

Number 1 had the jars out, making them ready for drinking.

Brod was struggling so badly that it tried to break free and reach for the jar, but Number 1 fought back and stopped them.

Bertugo also rebuked Brod and told him to bear it and held down Brod.

Like this, Brod suffered a lot.

Dyne reached level 3, and both Brod and Bertugo also achieved a level up.

Brod fell down as if he was fainting. His body had chars all over. Dyne gave him half a healing leaf, and the other half he cut further into two and took one and gave the other to Bertugo.

Brod’s expression lightened as the healing leaf healed him of his damage.

Brod glanced at his body and noticed the difference. 

Dyne picked up a healing leaf that the departed Gimard left behind.

“Looks like we have a farming room!” Dyne laughed.

The large rooms had a few monsters to the front.

Some Gimard and some Drake Ghost were wandering nearby.

Dyne made Bertugo move forward.

“But now’s not the time. You guys stay here. To save Incense, I’ll go and get the keys to the next layer and run back here.” Dyne ordered.

Dyne coated himself with the Incense powder and began to head off.

Dyne ran and moved towards the room and found a large jail full of people and Gimard. The jail was larges as this hall appeared to be the dining area. 

Several young Gimards moved around the room, and the smaller ones moved in and out of the jail cell. Oddly enough, there was a Gimard who grew to become so big that he couldn’t get out of the cage.

“Not a very bright Gimard... Are you?” Dyne shook his head. He went to search for the treasure chest and found them.

When Dyne opened it, he saw several strange items. The treasure chest had seven of these items.

“This is odd... What is this?” Dyne wondered and look at the bottle.

There in the bottle was a label underneath.

“Fury Boost...” Dyne contained his excited cry. There was actually seven Fury Boost!

“This will be very helpful!” Dyne decided to take the entire chest and searched for another wardrobe.

He found a treasure chest, opened it, and found a key with a lightning symbol.

“The Lightning Key!” Dyne cheered.

He then ran back and met with the group. He only used a small amount to cover him, and it allowed him to move back and forth the room. 

Knowing what amounts to apply, Dyne sprinkled a very conservative amount on everyone and began to move again.

They reached the main stone door leading to the third level. And with very few monsters around, the group opened it without creating a distraction.