No Clowns?

--AN)42+ advanced chapters on https://www.patreon.com/invayne --

The inside of the castle was just as creepy as the outside. The outside had leafless trees and a low-lying fog that filled the area with broken walls and overgrown grass. The inside was dark, dingy, and smelled musty. Everything was covered in dust and had a no one has lived here for hundreds of years type vibe. Some of the items were faded in order, but nothing was really falling apart. At least in the entryway, anyway.

"So… it stinks…" Shizuku wrinkled her nose. 

"It does…." Mei was holding her nose. She hated places like these. 

"You will get used to it. Just wait a while." Shizuku felt bad for Mei. A fox's nose was more sensitive than a cat's or vampire's.

"Which way should we go?" Miyumi asked as she looked around. There was a staircase leading up as well as two doors to our left and right.

"We will use the golden rule we have always used!" Shizuku pointed to the door to the left. "When lost, go left!"

"I don't think that is a rule!" Miyumi sighed. She did not know why Shizuku had an obsession with going left. But this did not stop her from going left.

With Miyumi in the lead, the three girls opened the door to the left and entered a long hallway that did not seem to end. "No clowns…."

"Yep…. No clowns…." Shizuku nodded to Miyumi's statement, feeling a bit disappointed.

"Just a skeleton." Mei pursed her lips. She was okay with this, but she did not know why her Master seemed upset about it not being a clown.

"Let's deal with things slowly," Shizuku said as she gave Mei a signal. Mei's eyes glowed once more.

"There are no traps from what I can see," Mei informed, which was MIyumi's cue to pull the skeleton.

"Be careful of open doors. We do not want to pull too many adds." Shizuku warned. There were many rooms, some with closed doors and some open. She did not want to accidentally pull off more than they could chew.

"Damn it!" Miyumi was hit straight on by a blow from the skeleton's blunted sword. She blocked it with her shield, but the blow was heavy, sending her into a kneeling position. 

"Mei!" Shizuku called out. Mei quickly moved, appeared behind the skeleton, and attacked its head. Her fist smashed into the skull, sending it spinning in place. The skeleton's hp dropped to zero, and its bones scattered all over the floor.

"Miyu, are you okay?" Shizuku asked as she ran over.

"Yeah. I was just expecting such a heavy hit. It caught me off guard. I learned something new today." Miyumi shook her wrist. Her arm was still slightly numb. The hit just now was so heavy that she barely could withstand it.

"Be careful. I can heal, but I do not think I can heal an exploded head." Shizuku joked, causing Miyumi to wrinkle her brow slightly.

"Very funny…." Miyumi took Shizuku's hand and stood up. She looked at the skeleton and did not see anything worth picking up. "No loot?"

"It will come, I am sure." Shizuku patted the dirt off Miyumi before looking around. "Let's be extra careful. If the skeletons are able to knock Miyu like that, then the other monsters might be even stronger."

An hour later, the group had cleared the left side of the castle. Each room was quite big. Many were storage rooms, while others were actually living quarters for many people. Each room was huge and looked like a small warehouse. But with how close the doors were to one another, you would not think this. 

When they walked out of the left hallway, the group stopped dead in their tracks as they looked up at the thing in front of them. "Umm…. Am I seeing a giant skeleton that has its head to the ceiling?" The entrance had a cathedral style ceiling. It was so high that no one expected the first boss like monster's head would reach the top.

"No, we are seeing it too…." Miyumi answered with a slight shiver. She did not want to take a strike from that thing head-on!

"I see…. Then shall we go back?" Shizuku turned around and was about to walk away when Miyumi pulled her back.

"Shizu, we can't falter just because it looks scary." Miyumi was the one up front as it was, so it was she who was the most scared, but she did not want this to stop them from leveling up either.

"Okay. Okay." Shizuku grinned as she readied herself. "I was just joking anyway."

"We will do it like before, but Miyu, dodge any attacks it throws at you." Shizuku was worried such a massive sword would crush her little tank.

"I plan on it!" Miyumi replied before reading her sword and shield. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the open area of the entrance.

"Roar!" The massive skeleton let out an unskeleton like roar. It instantly noticed Miyumi and swung its sword at her. She had no choice but to jump to the side and do a tuck and roll to get away from it. 

As Miyumi got to her feet her expression was not good. "Shizu, make sure you keep me healed, or I might really die to this thing!"