Chapter 13: The Depths of the Lake

"AI chip, activate combat assistance."

Huston had no way of knowing the true strength of these skeletal warriors, so he remained extremely cautious, prepared to retreat at a moment's notice.

The clattering of teeth echoed as the skeletal warriors gnashed their jaws, rusted longswords clutched in their bony hands. One of them suddenly lunged at Huston.

"Not too fast."

Huston calmly analyzed their movements—predictable, sluggish.

As the first skeleton raised its sword high, bringing it down in a crude overhead slash, Huston sidestepped with ease. The attack carved nothing but air.

The moment of stiffness after the strike was fatal.

Huston didn't waste the opening. With a single clean sweep of his blade, he shattered the skull of the skeleton. The bones clattered to the ground, lifeless once more.

A glance to the side—Emil had already dispatched his opponent.

 Scattered bones and rusted armor littered the ground.

"That's it?" Huston scoffed. "They're weaker than I expected."

But the battle wasn't over.

The three remaining skeletal warriors emerged from the lake, their empty sockets locked onto the two knights. 

Yet they too fell swiftly, crumbling beneath precise strikes.

Emil exhaled, looking at the remains. "These were once castle guards—our predecessors. We should bury them."

Huston nodded and bent down to gather the bones.

Then—

The bones moved.

Like marionettes on invisible strings, the scattered remains floated into the air, piecing themselves back together into full skeletons.

And then—they picked up their weapons and attacked again.

"Watch out! They're not staying dead!" Huston called out, parrying a strike.

Emil was already engaged, but despite their resurrection, the skeletons were still weak—not nearly a match for knights.

Yet no matter how many times they were cut down, they reassembled themselves again and again.

"AI chip, analyze the skeletons!"

"Target is linked to an unidentified radiation energy strand."

"A strand?"

Huston saw nothing.

"Mark it in blue!"

A new vision overlay appeared in his eyes. Now, he could see it.

Each skeleton was tethered by a long, glowing blue thread, stretching all the way to the bottom of the lake.

"AI chip, analyze the lake."

"Analysis complete. An unidentified radiation energy source detected at the bottom of the lake."

Huston cleaved another skeleton apart and gazed toward the lake's depths.

"An energy source?"

A bold idea formed in his mind.

"Emil," Huston said. "I'm going to the bottom of the lake."

Emil's head snapped toward him. "You're what? Have you lost your mind? There's obviously something down there."

Huston met his gaze, calm and determined. "It might not be as terrifying as we think."

"You sure?" Emil asked.

Huston exhaled. "No. But I have to try."

He had already hit a wall in his path as a knight—his strength could advance no further. But this lake held something unknown.

And the unknown could be his key to breaking through.

"AI chip, block my hearing."

Decision made, Huston shed his heavy armor and stepped to the water's edge.

Then—he dove in.

The lake was freezing.

The cold pierced like daggers into his flesh, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on.

In his vision, five glowing blue threads extended from the lakebed toward the surface—the same strands tethered to the undead knights.

He followed them deeper.

The five threads converged into a single, pulsating line.

And at its origin—

A faint blue glow.

"AI chip, monitor my body. Alert me of any anomalies."

"Monitoring initiated. No abnormalities detected."

Huston focused and continued his descent. As he drew closer, the glow grew larger.

Then, he saw it.

A pocket watch.

It lay quietly at the bottom of the lake, completely enshrouded in the blue energy.

This was the source.

Huston reached for it—

A face emerged from the darkness.

The same pale, grotesque visage.

Its mouth gaped open in a silent wail, eyes blazing with fury.

But the scream had no effect on him.

He had already muted his hearing.

"AI chip, begin absorption."

"Unidentified radiation energy detected. Absorbing into host."

The blue energy slowly detached from the watch, flowing toward Huston.

The pale face twisted in horror.

Its expression shifted—from rage, to shock, to fear.

In its hollow eyes, Huston saw something unexpected—

Desperation.

A silent plea.

Huston's heart did not waver.

This thing had killed five knights, nearly taken Emil, and haunted the lake for who knew how long.

He felt no mercy.

He absorbed every last drop.

As Huston swam toward the surface, a notification flashed in his mind.

"Absorption complete. Spirit Power +1.0."

Breaking through the water's surface, he inhaled deeply.

The lake, once eerie and still, now felt…

Empty.

The nightmare had ended.

The blue threads tethering the skeletal warriors vanished, dissolving like mist in the night. With their unnatural connection severed, the undead collapsed into heaps of brittle bone, never to rise again.

For the first time, true silence returned to the lake.

Emil let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding as he saw Huston break the surface.

Huston swam to the shore and pulled himself onto solid ground, water streaming from his armor. He held something in his hand, its intricate craftsmanship catching the moonlight.

"I found this at the bottom of the lake."

Emil stepped closer, eyes narrowing as he examined the ornate pocket watch in Huston's palm.

It was an exquisite piece—gold and AI chip entwined in flawless harmony, its attached chain woven from pure gold.

"A pocket watch? This was the source of all that madness?" Emil frowned, struggling to connect the horror they had just faced with something so... beautiful.

Yet, despite its elegance, something about it felt unnatural.

He reached out and traced a finger over the surface. "This is solid gold... but this blue material—I have no idea what it is.

" He studied it closer, frowning. "There isn't a single seam on this thing. I've never seen craftsmanship like this."

Huston turned it over in his palm, his fingers running along the smooth metal until he felt a tiny golden button at the bottom. He pressed it.

With a soft click, the pocket watch opened.

Inside, the clockwork mechanisms ticked away, perfectly intact.

Huston checked the time—it was precise, down to the second.

Yet what truly caught his attention was the intricate artwork engraved into the watch's inner cover—a painting of a six-sided tower, standing solitary against an unknown backdrop.

A symbol. A message. A mystery.

And then—

A surge of knowledge flooded into his mind.

Not in words, not in spoken language, but in a form deeper than that—pure understanding.

"This pocket watch was the first enchanted artifact I created as a mere apprentice of the arcane. It holds great sentimental value to me.

I imbued it with the power of Sacred Healing—a spell capable of mending wounds, dispelling curses, and banishing nightmares. A mere spark of magic is all it requires to activate.

Use it well, my friend. And may fortune favor you."

—Nicholas Carlos Camby.

Huston's pulse quickened.

This was no ordinary relic.

A sorcerer's work. An artifact of true power.

And more than that—it was a glimpse into a world beyond knights and steel.

His mind reeled as he processed the revelation.

"An apprentice sorcerer… An enchanted relic… Magic…"

And most importantly—a spell known as Sacred Healing.

This was beyond anything he had ever encountered.

And he knew—this watch was only the beginning.