The Undead Drake is not small, not in the least.

  It dwarfs the four Dungeon Divers by nearly triple their height on all fours alone, and it's old, crimson scales, despite many shed off and never grown back, are as large as hands. It's claws scrape the floor of the massive arena that is Floor 25 as it circles them, the massive cavity in it's chest showing it's ruined flame sac and the rest of the rotting internals that are no longer in use. When it roars, the sound is more akin to a broken scream, even it's vocal organs too ruined to make any proper noise. A normal Drake would be far stronger, but an Undead Drake is still no easy foe.

  At least, Vedan and his pair of followers think so. Kindle doubts they couldn't just spend a lot of MP and cast a particularly powerful spell, perhaps freezing it and shattering it instantly, but based on the fact that the Hero seemed to dislike the idea of not fighting properly and skipping the Mini Boss, they refrain.

  The other three don't even have to speak to each other at first, already positioning themselves. The Elven Knight, Zgedi is their name, positions himself in front of Awawa, the Wolfkin Mage, who's already preparing a spell circle as Vedan flanks the massive lizard with his flashy, platinum sword in his hands.

  Kindle follows suit, drawing their own blade and moving to flank it's other side. They don't necessarily need the XP, nor do they feel threatened by something their ///World Eye/// shows is weaker than them, but Kindle still wants to experience teamwork, so they observe their temporary comrades.

  The Undead Drake is slow, but it swings a claw down on Vedan first, who dodges quite easily with a strong sidestep, then pulls back their sword as they infuse it with Light Magic. The weapon looks radiant, like it's own shooting star as it cleaves a massive gash into the tendons of the Undead Drake's arm.

  The monster wails at the exposure to Light Magic, a global weakness of all Undead, but it doesn't bleed, as corpses lack a heart that beats. Still, it responds with a spin and whip of it's tail, which Vedan leaps over, and Zgedi moves to halt. When they ram their golden greatshield forward and up at the right moment, the tail bounces upwards, right over Awawa as she aims her spell.

  The tail stops before it reaches Kindle, but Kindle still sharpens their sword with mana and slices downwards, cutting the entire tail off and getting a violent reaction and screech from the Drake. It thrashes a bit, turning in an attempt to focus on Kindle, but Awawa fires her spell before it can.

  She doesn't declare the name of the spell to warn her teammates, simply firing the Ice Lance straight at the beast's eye, and it pierces straight into it's skull, causing it to rear it's head back in more agony. Zgedi doesn't waste time, charging forward at the same time as Vedan and Kindle. Vedan infuses his sword with holy light again, more than before, and slices through it's leg with intense force, the blade slicing through even the bone, and the weight of the Undead Drake causing the living corpse to fall with a cry.

  Kindle follows up with another mana-enhanced slash to the Drake's exposed gut, from it's pelvic bones to it's ribcage with a long stepping slash. While having it's entire gut split open would certainly kill most living things, the creature already defying death holds onto the last of it's afterlife with intense thrashes that only injure itself more.

  Zgedi is the one to lay the final bow, his spear jabbing into the open cavity in it's chest and into the rotted heart of the thing before he use Light Magic at point blank, the entirety of the insides bursting as the last of the Undead Drake's strength comes to a near-instant halt. Unable to maintain it's already dead body now that it's been so greatly and irreparably damaged, the Drake slumps, truly dead.

  [NOTICE: UNDEAD DRAKE SLAIN]

  [+2500 XP; 2725/7250 XP]

  Kindle sheaths their blade as Zgedi and Awawa huff, but Vedan hops on top of the corpse with triumph, clearly proud of the achievement of killing a Drake, even if it was literally the rotting corpse of one. "I expected more from a Drake, honestly."

  Awawa keeps at a distance, her furry maw grimacing at the smell of the thing. "Ugh, maybe it's because we faced one that had a ruined flame sac and was in the worst state possible, Vedan. A real Drake would have had us all charred in it's stomach." Zgedi nods, and glances at you.

  "Either way, we succeeded against the Mini Boss, and did so without issue as well." He drinks from an MP Potion, the glowing blue liquid soon being downed before he puts the bottle away. "You handled yourself well, stranger."

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Vedan finally hops down, beginning to pick the scales off the carcass as he chuckles. "Stranger, yeah. We never did get your name, did we? You're not much of a talker, either."

  Kindle moves to help with the looting of the pricey materials. "Kindle, that's my name."

  Awawa snorts, approaching at her own discontentment to assist in the harvest, grossed even more by the smell as she gets closer. "That's your name? An odd one, definitely." She stops at the stump of the tail, and looks at Kindle again. "Still, you cut off the Drake's entire tail with a single swing. The stomach's one thing, it's exposed and all that, but the tail is pure scale, muscle, and bone, yet you went through it like warm butter."

  Zgedi, who's working on removing the teeth, nods in agreement. "Even Vedan had to put effort into the leg, and he didn't even cut if all the way off." Vedan nods along too, until he pauses his work on removing the scales.

  "Wait, how much XP did we get again?" They all pause now, and seem confused. When Kindle does the same, they seem confused by the amount as well. 2500 XP is absurd, a hundred times the normal amount. "That's odd."

  Awawa glances at Kindle again. "... Vedan gives us a boost in our XP gain thanks to his skill, ///Heroic Potential (C)///, but that boost is only a hundred times multiplier. We should have gotten five hundred, but we recieved five times that." Kindle stops for a moment at the mention of ///Heroic Potential (C)///. It's clear what had happened, both Vedan's Trait and Kindle's Trait affected the total amount of XP they gained.

  To them, they just recieved far more XP than they should have, and the only reasonable assumption they can get is that Kindle, the only real new variable, is the reason why. Zgedi and Vedan are watching them closely now just like Awawa, and Kindle remains still in a panicked thought process of looking for a way out.

  Before they can think of anything, time slows to a halt. And a voice Kindle hasn't heard before hums through the entire chamber.

  [The Calamity has been found, an Undead serving the God of Undeath, Obsidian. Heroes, it is by my decree as the Goddess of Light that you will aim your weapons at the foul thing before you.]

  When time resumes, Kindle is given only a moment to process the entirety of the situation. Calamity? They're the so called 'great evil' that the Hero is meant to defeat? They don't get to think about it too much before they dodge a jab of Zgedi's spear, the radiant light emitting from it causing a sort of internal, uneasing burn despite not being touched by it.

  Zgedi clicks his tongue, and Awawa already has her magestaff aimed at Kindle. "So it's like this, then. Didn't think the Calamity would be the type to try to assassinate the Hero themself." Vedan seems the most hesitant of the new information, but still draws his blade.

  Kindle, not the type to indulge in such, immediately books it, using mana to strengthen the amount of force in each step as they dart towards the entrance to Floor 26. But as they're only a few steps away, a net of holy energy wraps the chamber, blocking all forms of escape. Zgedi, the source of the Holy Snare, grunts as he aims his spear again. "Don't think you can run."

  Vedan's sword comes down on Kindle, their own blade quickly unsheathed to block the blow, mana reinforcing the weapon so it doesn't break. "Unfortunate," Vedan starts, genuine in their soft tone but not relenting in the strength of their strikes as the begin a flurry of attacks. "I almost thought you'd make a good addition to the party. How ironic."

  Kindle blocks every blow, realizing quickly that Vedan is just as strong as them physically, even if his maximum MP seems to be less. Kindle doesn't get much time to take in the fact before Ice Bolts begin raining down, forcing them to dodge Awawa's volleys and block Vedan's persistent swarm of swings, as Zgedi stays in front of Awawa to defend her and maintain the Holy Snare.

  Kindle continues remaining on the evasive defense, considering their options. For the first time, they're stuck on whether killing them is the correct response. They don't think they're the Calamity, and if the Hero is the one supposed to stop the Calamity, then killing the Hero would be a problem. Not only that, but the Goddess of Light, Diamond, would likely do everything in her power to kill Kindle if they did. Logistically, it would be too risky to kill them in the long run.

  Kindle's focus returns to the entrance to Floor 26, blocked by the Holy Snare surrounding the entire chamber. To sustain it for a while, Zgedi is likely not using it at it's full potential, just enough to make it unwise for most Undead and the like to try to break through. But unlike most Undead, Kindle has ///Light Resistance (F)///, which should decrease the pain and damage by a little bit, and a massive pool of HP in comparison to other creatures at their level.

  In a bold move, Kindle bolts for the exit, wrapping a thick layer of mana around themself in a futile attempt to minimize the pain, and charge through the Holy Snare, to the shock of the trio. It burns, burns like fire as golden flames envelop Kindle, who simply continues their mad dash, the Hero and his pair of companions yet to give chase for a moment as they recover from surprise.

  "Did..." Awawa starts. "Did he just rush through the Holy Snare anyways?" Vedan doesn't take much longer, rushing after Kindle, the other two only a second slower.

  But by then, Kindle has already made enough distance, still scorching in a personalized, radiant hell that doesn't seem to burn their apparel, but certainly seems to knaw at their soul. Kindle just keeps running, spending as much of their MP as possible in trying to douse the agonizing pain.

  [WARNING: HP BELOW 50%; 720/1450 HP]

  [WARNING: HP BELOW 25%; 450/1450 HP]

  By the time the flames begin to die, Kindle is certain of their escape, but writhing from their newest experience of torture. It hurt, it hurt badly, and they never want to experience it again.

  Being a Calamity isn't as cool as it sounds.

  NAME: KINDLE

  SPECIES: LESSER UNDEAD PALADIN

  SEX: N/A

  XP: 2725/7250

  AP: 0

  HP: 267/1450

  MP: 894/1450

  SP: 1257/1450

  CON: 29

  AGI: 29

  DEX: 29

  PER: 29

  INT: 29

  UNDEAD PALADIN (F)

  FUNDAMENTAL ARCANIST (E)

  SIMPLE PYROMANCER (F)

  SIMPLE CRYOMANCER (F)

  FUNDAMENTAL SWORDSMAN (E)

  FUNDAMENTAL SPELLSWORD (E)

  ///BIOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY///

  ///WORLD EYE///

  ///UNIFIED FORM (E)///

  ///HEROIC POTENTIAL (E)///

  ///UNDEAD DOMINANCE (E)///

  ///INSTINCTIVE CHANNELING (F)///

  ///NATURAL ARCANIST (F)///

  ///NATURAL SWORDMAN (F)///

  ///NATURAL PALADIN (F)///

  ///LIGHT RESISTANCE (F)///

  (+2 MORE)