Jeremy wasn't the best-mannered cat, nor was he easy to deal with. I suspect most felines are just difficult by design and mean by nature. Despite all that, sometimes he is pretty affectionate, but it is very rare.

  I never thought I would be a cat person. I know, right? Dog seemed a better fit. They are loyal, generally friendly and as cuddly as a teddy bear. This was based on what I had seen in movies. So, take those attributes with a grain of salt, as the Earthers would say.

  Yet im stuck with little Jer and his prickly demeanour and lofty attitude. And I wouldn't change it for anything in all the system worlds. Which is why the thought of him dying made me a bit displeased, which is an understatement.

  Frantically inspecting my feline friend for any wound, I found nothing at all. No broken bones, no bleeding, nor wound of any kind. He was pristine and put together like any healthy cat. His luck attribute, if such a thing existed, must by in the triple digits.

  "You okay? All good, my friend, you had me worried." I held him close, and for once he didn't bite the crap out of me.

  There we lingered, lovely little fluffball bundled in my embrace. It was a beautiful moment surrounded by corpses and blood. The crypt probably ruined it, but the world didn't exist in the face of my little Jeremy. Looking down at this adorable creature, I smiled a genuinely cheerful smile. Then he scratched the crap out of me.

  "Ow! Come on, Jer, we were having a moment!" I complained as he bounced out of my embrace and hissed. "Alright, fine, be that way. I guess ill loot and then we can move on."

  I lingered for a moment, worried about my little friend, before shrugging. Getting back to my feet and rubbing my abused arms, one part by the vamp and the other by the cat. With cuts and bruises, I am very lucky.

  I returned to the podium, glared daggers at the dagger. Pulled out a cloth and wrapped the cursed object up and dumped it in my inventory. Of course I took it, maybe I could sell it, but with a disclaimer. Everything has value, even cursed daggers that make you want to bleed.

  The podium had a blood bowl, which didn't seem to be anything special. Looking around, nothing else of value came to mind. So I went to rob the vampire corpses and after the first, second, third and then fourth corpse. I found something truly annoying. They didn't have a single thing with them.

  Not a single treasure, weapon or even a piece of armour. Their tunics were of decent material but nothing special. Not sure if they had magic in them, but a quick Inspect just showed them as basic vampire attire. How was this a thing? Their caskets looked good? I mean, no jewels, but they seemed sturdy?

  "So that's it? Just a cursed dagger?" I questioned the room; naturally, the room didn't answer.

  Thinking about my options, I looked over the nice-looking caskets and wondered if my bag could expand. I mean, if possible, I could steal all four of them. Bearing that in mind, I positioned my bag's opening at the casket's end and ordered it to expand.

  The material morphed into a giant maw that swallowed the casket whole as I dragged it across. Then, suddenly, it returned to its default size. Ready to consume the rest of them, I got a sense my little bag was reaching its limit. With that in mind, I weighed my options before deciding one was enough.

  "Maybe I could sell it to some funeral home or a friendly vampire."

  With that done, we left this godforsaken room, rotting vampire corpses be damned. Making our way down another creepy corridor, lined with human skulls and still lit candles. We reached yet another creepy-ass room with more coffins. Stone and moss covered them, which didn't feel like a vampire's resting place.

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  Perhaps they were more Gravewalkers? I suppose I will find out once I cross the wake up the dead threshold. I withdrew my weapon, ready to activate it at a moment's notice. Glancing over my shoulder at Jeremy, I worried about his safety.

  "Maybe you should sit this one out?" I suggested while carefully pulling him off and plopping him on the ground.

  Thankfully, he complied without a fuss, went to the side and curled up into a ball. He was probably sleepy from all the excitement. Hopefully, none of these buggers would go for him. If they did, they would get an express ticket to see Hades. I mean, I was probably doing God's work by sending them down the pipeline.

  I'm sure they will think differently, but screw them. They attacked me first, but I suppose I am an invader to them. Except they trapped me in here, or someone did. Regardless of the circumstances, if you try to eat me, you get an Aetherblade to the face. If anyone got a problem with that, take it up with my sword.

  Nodding at my stellar logic and rationale, I ignored the few faults and pressed onward to adventure. Crossing the threshold, the obvious thing happened, and the nearest coffin burst open, and a very human-looking undead climbed out.

  [Vengeful Revenant. Level: 15]

  "Pissed off and vengeful undead, of course, and naturally..." I gestured to the undead.

  "You killed me!" The revenant cried out.

  As expected, they turn their revenge on the first person they find. Kind of sad really, but not that sad. The robed undead raised his right palm and a fireball burst into existence. Gesturing with the flame like a fiery weapon, he readied to blast me.

  "Undead wizard, great."

  Before he flung that at me, I noted how he didn't use any spell components. Did that mean he was a different arcane worker? I would ponder that later as a fireball was coming right at me with great speed. The undead abomination conjured and fired that faster than I could react.

  Instinctively, I raised my palm and activated kinetic strike at full power. My palm was directly in the line of fire and repelled the blast on impact. It did nothing to stop the heat, though, and my hand got singed.

  "Oh, that's hot!" Violently shaking palm as it reddened.

  I tried futilely to blow my hand like the steam from a coffee mug. It didn't help, but I was sufficiently angry. Blade activated, I charged the undead before he could conjure another. Instead of a fireball, he raised his palms and manifested a transparent barrier to intercept my blade.

  Putting all my strength behind the attack, the barrier held, cracking only slightly. Enraged, I commanded my blade to pour more energy and instantly sensed a sudden drop in mana. Not my mana, since I didn't have any, but the mana of the blade. It burned a quarter away and strengthened my weapon enough to slice through the barrier and into his skull.

  Performing a similar trick, I deactivated the blade and reactivated a second later, slicing through his neck and saying bye to the undead caster. The moment the robed undead dropped to the floor, two more coffins burst open, and here we go again.

  The other two undead were not too difficult. They oddly didn't have any mental skills like the Gravewalker, but they were more intelligent. The one with the axe fought like he knew how to use it. But my barrier skill was strong enough to tank the blows, and a well-placed kinetic strike turned his head to mist.

  This left the possibly female undead with the great sword. She had some martial skills, able to shatter solid rock with every swipe of her glowing blade. But alas, she was really slow, and as long as I dodged, I survived.

  It took way longer to kill her, assuming that's the right term for dispatching an undead. Every swing of her sword was death incarnate, and only my reasonably high reflex attribute kept me above water. Being undead, naturally she didn't tire, so I had to time my attack and seize the best opportunity.

  It came about a few minutes into the fight when she overextended, and her flank was wide open. A kinetic strike to keep her off balance and then a quick slice and her arms went bye-bye. Dispatching the undead was easy after that, good old headshot or neck shot in this case.

  Once defeated, I dropped their weapons in my bag. The caster's robe was probably magical; I would inspect the enchantments later. Something more pressing kept my attention. One coffin had yet to open and, more than that, something was tapping against the lid.

  Tap, tap went the undead. There was a slim chance of a living person trapped in there. But I rather doubted it, considering how old this place looked. A living person would have run out of air long ago. And yet, despite all my expectations of a rabid zombie busting out. What greeted me as I approached with weapon ready was a soft-spoken voice.

  "Am I dead? If so, did I die fabulously?" The voice pierced through the stone coffin and stopped me in my tracks.

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