Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 225

Chapter 225

As Jake traversed another corridor, he suddenly stumbled upon a ghost. At first, he thought it was an enemy and prepared to fight, instinctively lifting his battleaxe. However, when he summoned its description, a single line surfaced in his mind.

Wandering ghost

No level was displayed to him. When Jake attempted to summon the ghost’s stats, nothing came up either. This was odd—maybe it wasn’t an enemy after all? For a moment, he simply watched the ghost as it floated down the corridor toward him. It seemed to notice him, yet it didn’t quicken its pace and showed no signs of aggression.

Jake kept his guard up, watching the ghost draw closer while tightly gripping his battleaxe. The ghost floated toward him at a slow, leisurely pace, hovering about three feet above the ground. The ghost was missing its lower half. It was pale and barely visible, draped in tattered, flowing clothes. As Jake studied the ghost closely, he noticed a beaded bracelet on one of its wrists. Made of large marbles, the bracelet caught his eye, as it was the only distinctive feature of the spectral figure. Other than that, nothing else about the creature stood out.

Suddenly, the ghost halted its approach, stopping a few yards away. For several seconds, it appeared to stare directly at him. Then, it turned around and drifted off in the opposite direction, floating at the same leisurely pace. It seemed to move around the area without any clear purpose. As Jake pressed forward, he passed the ghost, which barely acknowledged his presence. It spun around once more, flying back in the opposite direction. Since the ghost didn’t appear to be hostile, Jake chose to let it be.

He continued to explore the dungeon for a while, systematically taking down each group of ratmen he encountered. It wasn’t long before he achieved level 84, allocating all five of his skill points to Magic. 

Body: 75

Mind: 75

Magick: 85 → 90

He pressed on, exploring the dungeon for a bit longer. Eventually, he stepped into a vast room filled with an assortment of Medieval-style torture devices. It wasn’t the first time he had encountered such a chamber. The first floor resembled a maze of crypts, filled with sepulchers and inhabited by the undead. The second floor, on the other hand, was unmistakably themed around torture, brimming with various cruel devices from the Medieval era.

Jake meandered through the room, on the lookout for anything useful or any hidden secrets. The chamber was devoid of enemies and chests, but there might still be something concealed within. He kept scanning his surroundings, his gaze shifting from one torture device to the next. The place was filled with an array of cruel contraptions: wooden horses, electric chairs, Spanish boots, iron maidens, head crushers, breaking wheels, and a myriad of others.

His gaze eventually landed on a rack positioned against one of the walls. This particular torture device caught his attention because a human body was strapped to the wooden frame with leather cords. It was the very first time Jake had seen a torture device in actual use. All the previous ones he encountered in the dungeon had been empty. Intrigued, he stepped closer to the rack.

The male figure strapped to the rack was dead, but the body looked as if the death had occurred only moments ago. The corpse was dressed in old, ragged clothes, and the restraints were put around its ankles and wrists. The only detail that stood out on the corpse was a beaded bracelet with large marbles worn on its wrist. Jake immediately recalled that the wandering ghost he had encountered not long ago wore the same bracelet. It couldn’t have been a mere coincidence.

Jake pondered what it might mean. Then an idea struck him. He carefully slid the beaded bracelet off the deceased person’s hand and exited the torture chamber. After consulting his mental map, he moved in the direction of where he had last seen the wandering ghost. He raced through the deserted tunnels and channels for a little while, encountering no enemies. At last, he arrived at the corridor where he had met the wandering ghost.

To his satisfaction, the ghost was still there, drifting up and down the corridor aimlessly. Jake made his way to the center of the corridor and paused. When the ghost reached the other end, it didn’t leave. Instead, it turned and flew back in Jake’s direction. He raised his left hand, in which he held the beaded bracelet, and waited.

The wandering ghost continued to drift toward Jake at a leisurely pace, seemingly oblivious to the bracelet he held. But as it drew nearer, it suddenly took notice of the trinket. Seemingly excited, the ghost accelerated, approaching Jake at an increased speed now. He quickly turned and sprinted the rest of the way out of the corridor. A glance over his shoulder revealed that the ghost was following him out as well. Jake gathered his bearings and made his way back to the torture chamber, with the ghost trailing him closely.

Finally, he made it back to the chamber. He approached the body strapped to the rack and carefully placed the bracelet back around its wrist. Then he turned and watched as the ghost glided across the chamber toward him. As soon as it reached the rack, the ghost entered the body, and in the next instant, the person came to life. He turned his head to look up at Jake. Surprisingly, he showed no fear or shock at the sight of the horrifying pitch-black mutant looming over him. 

With defiance burning in his eyes, the man looked at Jake and declared, “I’ll tell you nothing!”

We’ll see about that, Jake thought. There was definitely something the man could tell him, and he was determined to find out what it was.

He stepped up to the winch mechanism and grasped the handle, feeling the rough texture of the wood beneath his palm. He twisted the handle, and the rollers creaked softly in response as they began to grip the thick ropes. He continued to turn, gradually tugging on the ropes and stretching the victim’s body further.

The frame continued to emit a soft creak, and he leaned in closer, watching the straps tighten with each rotation. The man squirmed and groaned on the rack, but the leather straps remained unyielding, effectively restraining the prisoner within their tight grip. He kept turning the winch mechanism, which stretched the person’s body to its extreme limits, aware that it would eventually result in dislocated limbs or severe internal injuries.

At last, the man reached his breaking point. No longer able to endure the excruciating pain inflicted upon him, he cried out, “Stop it! Stop it! I’ll tell! I’ll tell!”

Jake ceased turning the winch. 

“White is last,” the man wheezed, staring at the ceiling above him with wide eyes. “White is last.”

Suddenly, a wave of tremors rolled through the man’s body. He took one last breath, his eyes glazing over, and then he stopped wriggling altogether. He had just died. Again. For a moment, Jake stared at the lifeless body. What the man had just said made perfect sense. It was a clue. He thought back to the portal. He knew that to activate the first symbol in the sequence, he needed to kill the purple ghost first. Based on what he had just heard, he needed to take down the white ghost last to activate the final symbol in the sequence.

So Jake realized he had been right in thinking there might be clues about the order in which the ghosts summoned from the obelisks needed to be killed to activate the portal’s symbols. He was now aware of how to find those clues. He glanced around one more time. All the other torture devices in the chamber lay vacant, but numerous torture rooms likely awaited him in the unexplored areas of the dungeon’s second floor. He just needed to keep searching. With that thought in mind, Jake left the chamber and pressed on.

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