I Can Extract Game Items

Aria folded her arms and sighed. "We\'ve been at this for over thirty minutes, and we\'re getting nowhere."

"I don\'t get it," Gareth grumbled while tightening his grip on his sword. "There has to be a clue around here. It wouldn\'t make sense for the dungeon to trap us without a way forward."

"Unless this is a dead end," Torin said sarcastically, earning a sharp glare from Aria.

Viora glanced nervously at the statues. "It can\'t be. We\'re missing something. This dungeon isn\'t supposed to have dead ends."

Drask scratched the back of his head. "What if we\'ve already passed it? Maybe it\'s back where the ruins transformed earlier."

"I doubt that," August voiced while scanning the area. "We retraced most of our steps already, but we haven\'t checked everything. There\'s still this left side we haven\'t explored."

The group turned to where August pointed. A narrow, almost imperceptible path veered off to the left, shrouded in shadows and partially hidden by overgrown vines.

"Good eye," Aria nodded approvingly. "Let\'s check it out."

---

[ System Notification: Area Discovered - The Forgotten Glade ]

---

As they approached, the area opened up into a small glade filled with strange, glowing flowers. In the center of the glade sat a small treasure chest.

Its ornate edges glittered faintly as the group paused at the sight of it.

"That\'s gotta be it," Viora pointed excitedly. "The flower-shaped trinket must be in there."

"Finally," Drask muttered. "Let\'s grab it and get out of here."

"Wait!" August raised his hand. "Look at the floor."

The group froze as faint, glowing patterns came into view, extending from the chest like a web of magic runes. Small footprints glimmered faintly, barely visible on the stone.

[ System Notification: Caution - Hidden Traps Detected ]

---

"Yeah, no way it\'s that simple," August said. "This place is rigged."

Torin nocked an arrow while scanning the glowing patterns. "Think we can disable the traps from here?"

"I doubt it," Aria voiced before stepping forward cautiously. "This doesn\'t look like something we can brute force. Magic traps like these are usually tied to specific conditions."

Drask scoffed. "Then what do we do? Play patty-cake with the flowers?"

"No," Aria responded with a thoughtful tone. "We mimic the spirit girl again."

"The dance?" Gareth raised an eyebrow. "You\'ve gotta be kidding me." Continue reading stories on empire

"She\'s the key to everything on this floor so far," Aria argued. "The carvings, the projection, even the traps—we\'ve only made progress by following her lead."

"It\'s worth a shot," Viora added. "We don\'t have any other options."

Aria stepped onto the glowing footprints, careful to avoid the runes. She began to mimic the flowing movements of the spirit girl\'s dance with her arms tracing elegant patterns in the air. As she moved, the glowing runes beneath her feet began to dim.

"It\'s working!" Viora exclaimed in awe.

---

[ System Notification: Trap Disarmed ]

The glowing flowers that had extended to shield the chest suddenly withered, curling in on themselves. The runes on the ground vanished, and the air in the glade grew still.

Drask let out a low whistle. "Well, I\'ll be damned. Nice moves, Aria."

"Thanks," she voiced while brushing a strand of hair from her face as she stepped back. "Now, let\'s see what\'s inside."

Gareth approached the chest cautiously and knelt beside it. "Let\'s hope this isn\'t a mimic."

"Don\'t jinx it," Torin muttered, gripping his bow.

Carefully, Gareth opened the chest.

Nestled in a bed of soft, glowing fabric, was the flower-shaped trinket they had been searching for.

---

[ System Notification: Item Acquired - Radiant Bloom Key ]

[ Description: A magical artifact required to progress through the Swordking Dungeon. ]

---

Gareth held up the trinket as its petals shimmered faintly with a mythical glow. "This is it. This has to be what we need."

"Great," August stated. "Now let\'s get back to those statues before something else decides to show up."

The group quickly made their way back to the large doorway with the Radiant Bloom Key in hand. As they approached the statues, their stone eyes flickered, and the room seemed to grow colder.

"Here goes nothing," Aria voiced while holding up the trinket.

The statues froze in place, their weapons lowering as the trinket\'s glow illuminated the doorway.

The group placed the flower-shaped trinket into the carved slot on the floor, and the statues ceased their ominous movements.

[ System Notification: Radiant Bloom Key Activated ]

[ Access Granted: Proceed Through the Gate ]

---

As they stepped through, the spirit girl stood on the other side, waiting as if she\'d been expecting them.

Her translucent figure shimmered faintly, and her giggling echoed in the empty corridor.

"She\'s starting to creep me out," Torin muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "Like, does she ever *not* laugh?"

"Maybe she\'s laughing at how much trouble we\'re getting into," Drask joked, earning a chuckle from Viora.

"Focus, people," Aria said sternly. "If we\'re following her, we mimic her movements exactly, just like before. No distractions."

The spirit girl began to skip ahead causing her delicate feet to leave faint glowing footprints in her wake. Without hesitation, the group followed, matching her rhythm and movements as closely as possible.

After a few minutes of walking, they found themselves descending another spiral staircase.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

---

[ System Notification: Floor Progression - You Have Reached the 18th Floor ]

[ Keep following the spirit ]

---

"Wait, that\'s it?" Gareth voiced in disbelief with a tone that echoed through the surroundings. "No boss fight for the 17th floor?"

"I\'m not complaining," Viora said with a relieved sigh. "We\'ve been fighting for hours. A little break is nice."

"Yeah, but now I feel like the dungeon is trying to psych us out," Drask said. "Like, when\'s the other shoe gonna drop?"

As the group stepped onto the 18th floor, the scenery changed dramatically.

The walls were lined with glowing, crystalline veins that pulsed faintly like they were alive. The floor was smooth, polished stone, and faint whispers echoed in the distance, adding an eerie atmosphere.

The spirit girl stopped ahead of them and began twirling. Her movements were smooth and rhythmic. The group fell into step behind her, mimicking her movements exactly.

However, Torin\'s brow furrowed as he tilted his head.

"Has anyone ever wondered what happens if we don\'t mimic her?" his voice carried a note of curiosity.

Aria shot him a glare. "We\'re not finding out, Torin. Just do as she does."

"But what if it\'s like one of those secret triggers?" Torin argued. "What if it\'s a bonus event or loot?"

"It\'ll probably trigger our deaths, you idiot," Gareth said while rolling his eyes.

Torin groaned but kept moving. However, his concentration slipped, and he missed a step.

---

[ System Notification: Warning! A Party Member Failed to Follow the Spirit Guide\'s Movements! ]

[ Trigger Condition Met: The Fourth Calamity ]

----

Torin\'s face paled as he froze in place. "Uh... oops."

"What the fuck did you do?!" Aria hissed before spinning to face him.

"I... I missed a step," Torin admitted sheepishly. "It was an accident!"

Before anyone could respond, the ground beneath them rumbled violently.

Cracks spread across the polished floor, and strange tomb-like structures began to phase into existence, emerging from the ground.

"Torin, you absolute moron!" Drask bellowed, gripping his axe.

"I said it was an accident!" Torin snapped defensively.

The tombs stopped materializing at two hundred and each one creaked while opening to reveal skeletal figures clad in rusted knight\'s armor.

Their hollow eye sockets glowed with an ominous red light, and in their bony hands, they clutched long, chipped swords.

---

[ System Notification: The Fourth Calamity ]

[ Enemies Spawned: 200 Undead Knights (Level 25) ]

##########

Authors Note: Thank you all for the support you\'ve shown so far. We accumulated up to 200 power stones last week.

In appreciation, I\'ll be doing a mass release of five chapters on Wednesday.

If we manage to accumulate up to 500 power stones this week, I\'ll do another mass release.