The wind was biting as Ezra and Kael crouched atop a hill overlooking the SpireCorp research facility. The crumbling silhouette of the compound sat nestled in the valley below—an unmarked fortress surrounded by decaying fences and automated turrets half-buried in rust.
But despite the disrepair, it pulsed with life.
Dozens of heat signatures. Patrols. And something beneath the surface that Ezra couldn't quite define.
"Feels wrong," Kael muttered.
"It is wrong," Ezra said, eyes glowing faintly as he studied the facility through the eyes of a spectral crow he'd summoned.
The bird soared low over the outpost, its vision relayed directly into Ezra's mind. Corridors, guards, blast doors—and one building that was completely shielded. No windows. No heat. Just a black void that swallowed the crow's awareness when it tried to enter.
Whatever SpireCorp was hiding, it was inside that room.
Ezra's fingers twitched.
"Can your little bone brigade break in?" Kael asked.
"Maybe. But it'd be loud."
"I vote for not loud. Especially when they've got a heli-drone circling every fifteen minutes."
Ezra nodded. "Then we go quiet."
Kael grinned. "Music to my ears."
The infiltration began just before midnight.
Ezra dismissed his more grotesque undead—no hulking bone-melds or wraiths. Only Galen, the newly evolved Crypt Warden, came along. Cloaked in a thick illusion spell, the once-knight now resembled little more than a shimmer in the air as he stalked behind them.
Kael disabled the perimeter turrets with a short-range EMP burst, and Ezra cracked the side gate's lock with a rune he'd crafted from bone and sigil dust.
Inside, the facility was colder than the air outside.
Not temperature-wise—spiritually.
Something had died here. Recently.
[Passive Trait Activated: Aura of Dread]Nearby enemies experience mild hallucinations and fear-based status effects.
The first guard they encountered collapsed without a sound, eyes wide in terror. Ezra barely had to lift a hand—the man's fear consumed him before the Crypt Warden could even act.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"That new?"
Ezra nodded. "Part of the Crown's awakening."
She shivered. "Remind me not to make you mad."
They moved deeper.
The hallways smelled like bleach and blood. Clean on the surface, but rotting underneath. Medical beds sat empty behind observation glass. Tanks of mana-infused liquid hummed quietly in the shadows.
And then they reached it:
Sector 7A – Restricted Biohazard Zone.
"Looks like our party's behind door number one," Kael whispered.
Ezra touched the keypad. It didn't require hacking.
The door simply… opened.
As if welcoming him.
Inside, they found a horror show.
Rows of containment pods lined the walls—each one filled with a humanoid figure suspended in murky green fluid. Some had elongated limbs. Others had no faces. All bore the unmistakable stench of undeath.
"Experiments…" Kael whispered, disgusted.
Ezra moved slowly through the lab, scanning each pod.
SpireCorp wasn't just trying to recreate necromancy.
They were breeding it.
One pod bore the label: HB-X3. Another: Hollowborn Variant – Strength Class.
And then, at the very back, one pod glowed red.
It was empty.
[Warning: Residual Mana Detected – Class: Unknown][System Interference Detected…][…Anomaly Present.]
A voice boomed from the facility's intercom, robotic but strangely… familiar.
"Unauthorized presence confirmed. Experiment has been released. Engaging containment protocol."
Sirens wailed.
The facility shifted around them, doors slamming shut, lights flickering red.
Then, the floor beneath them opened.
Ezra fell.
For a moment, there was only wind and darkness.
Then impact.
He hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop against cold steel. Pain bloomed in his ribs, but he forced himself up, reaching for Kael—
She wasn't there.
Neither was Galen.
Ezra stood alone in a wide chamber—circular, empty, and deathly still.
Until something moved.
A figure stepped from the shadows, barefoot and twitching. Its skin was pale, almost translucent. Veins glowed beneath it. But its eyes… its eyes were completely black, save for a burning white slit in each center.
It grinned.
And then it spoke.
"You… feel like me."
Ezra froze. "Who are you?"
The thing tilted its head. "I was HB-X1. Now I am… I." It cracked its neck violently. "They made me with stolen blood. You smell like the source."
Ezra's heart thudded.
SpireCorp had used a sample. Maybe from a Hollowborn corpse. Maybe something else.
And it had worked.
But not like they intended.
Ezra's undead instincts screamed. This thing wasn't bound. It wasn't stable.
It was feral.
[Boss Encounter: Experimental Hollowborn – X1]Type: Aberrant UndeadRank: B+Traits: Rapid Regeneration, Unstable Mana Core, Berserker SurgeWeakness: Soul Disruption, Precision Damage
The mutant lunged.
Ezra barely dodged, slamming his palms to the ground and summoning three skeletal soldiers. They rose just in time to intercept the blow—but X1 tore through them like paper, its claws rending bone and armor alike.
Ezra fell back, summoning Galen—but nothing came.
Still trapped.
He needed time. Space.
He reached deep into the Crown's influence, whispering an old name:
"Haruun."
The air around him screamed.
A rotting beast burst from the shadows—a half-scorpion, half-wolf monstrosity bound by black chains. One of the original guardians of the Echospire. Long since dead. Recently added to his collection.
Haruun slammed into X1 with full force, pinning the creature against the wall.
Ezra used the moment to cast a spectral tether—binding the mutant's soul to the chamber walls.
It shrieked, thrashing against the spiritual bonds.
[Tether Successful – 30 Seconds Max][Enemy Regeneration Suppressed]
Ezra dashed forward, a spectral blade forming in his hand. He drove it into the creature's chest—
But missed the core.
X1 grinned through the pain, even as ichor spilled from its mouth.
"You're like me. But weaker."
It exploded with power, blowing Haruun apart and shattering the tether.
Ezra flew backward, slamming into the far wall. Pain lanced through his shoulder.
[Health: 43%][Status: Bleeding, Fracture Detected]
He gritted his teeth.
Then laughed.
"You talk too much."
The mutant paused.
Ezra summoned everything.
Bone. Shadow. Pain. Rage.
The chamber filled with the silhouettes of fallen dead—soldiers, animals, civilians—all given form by Ezra's fury. He shaped them into a weapon. A spear.
And hurled it.
Straight into X1's eye.
The mutant shrieked—this time in true pain.
Its regeneration flared, but the damage was too precise.
Ezra staggered forward, summoning chains made from soulsteel and memory. They wrapped around the creature's limbs, anchoring it.
And with a final word, he cast:
"Grave Severance."
A beam of black light surged from his hand, carving through the creature's skull and slicing deep into its mana core.
Silence followed.
Then—
[Boss Defeated – Experimental Hollowborn X1]You have earned: 2,000 EXPYou have earned: Experimental Core (Corrupted)Level Up!Necromancer – Level 9Strength – Level 6Title Gained: "Gravekiller"New Ability: Soul Chain – Bind enemies and drain their stats for a limited duration.
Ezra fell to one knee, panting.
The chamber door opened moments later, and Galen stormed in with Kael behind him.
"You okay?" she asked.
Ezra nodded. Barely.
"Didn't think you'd start a boss fight without us," she added.
Ezra stood slowly, wiping blood from his mouth. "Trust me. I would've preferred the backup."
They stared down at the twitching remains of the mutant.
Kael frowned. "They really tried to copy you."
"Worse," Ezra muttered. "They succeeded."
For now.