Chapter 43: The Mad Ghost(Bonus)
The next trail was simple fog curled around the ancient training grounds like a serpent. This part of the Ghost Fortress was different—older, more silent. The shadows here whispered, and even the most fearless warriors stepped lightly.
Dominic stood alone in the middle of a circular stone arena carved with arcane symbols, faintly glowing violet. The air was cold, but not from the weather—it was the chill of something unnatural.
Lady Fares stood on a high platform above him, her expression solemn.
"The first trial was against skill," she called out, her voice echoing. "This one... is against death itself."
A heavy door groaned open on the far side of the arena.
From the darkness, she emerged.
A woman.
Or what was once a woman.
She was barefoot, her movements eerie and slow. Her skin was pale with ghostly cracks spreading across her arms and neck like veins of broken glass. Her hair was long, white as snow, and floated behind her as if underwater. Her eyes—no pupils. Just glowing orbs of silver madness.
She smiled.
Everyone watching from the shadowed balconies tensed.