Inside the castle, Francis was taking in the magnificent scenery that unfolded in front of him. The marble floor was so polished that it reflected his image. Although Cainhurst fell long ago, the servants still kept their duties. They scrubbed and polished the floors tirelessly. Their clothes were looked old and dingy. They didn't give off any sense of strength. In Francis' eyes, they just looked like withered bodies. They didn't threaten him at all.
He walked around the main hall. There were stairs leading to the first floor of the castle. The stairs branched off and each path led to a different part of the place. Francis wasn't in a rush to get deeper into the palace. He wanted to explore ground floor first. He hoped to find some blood vials around.
Before getting inside, he had to fight many mosquitos. By then he dreaded them more than any other creature he had encountered so far. They were vicious beasts. Their attack pattern was so diversified that he couldn't predict their next moves accurately.
First, there was their extreme speed. He could barely predict where they'd land after they jumped to avoid his attacks. They were so fast that Francis resorted to a different approach. He let go of his usual calculations and let his survival instinct do the rest. After all, he was now a hunter with sharp senses. In a way, he was closer to being a beast that the other monsters.
The second issue was their unusually hard skin. They had a natural armor that prevented all attacks from cutting through. Their only weakness was their blood sac. It was extremely weak to the Chikage's attacks. All Francis needed to do was to reach the blood sac. That wasn't as easy as he initially thought.
The creatures stood on all fours. Every time they jumped, they'd immediately land several paces forward. Francis couldn't even follow the arc their body made as they jumped and advanced. It looked like the mosquito had just vanished to appear several feet closer to him.
They also had monstrous strength. Every hit from their unnatural hands would shake Francis' body and cause some bones to break. "Hands", this is what Francis started calling them. Although the creatures stood on all fours, they didn't have paws like other beasts. These had hands on their front "legs" and human feet on the hind legs. To top it all, the mosquito had a hideous face.
Its mouth had countless sharp teeth protruding from it. A red long tongue would usually come out like a snake's. That tongue was a fearsome weapon on its own. It acted as a whip and one lash from it opened a deep wound on Francis' chest. He could see his ribcage after the tongue landed on him. That frightened Francis so much that he did his utmost to avoid dealing with the beasts face to face.
The most horrific physical feature the beast had was its long silver hair that flowed down its face. The mosquito's face was half hidden by the hair. Francis would only see the horrific face when the beast opened its mouth to bite him or whip its tongue at him. Every time Francis saw that face, his heart would start beating fast. He just hated looking at all that ugliness.
In total, he had to fight twelve of them. One had a blood sac so big that it bloated until it touched the floor. That mosquito couldn't even move. After Francis discovered that it was easier to kill the hideous mosquitos from behind, he tried to sneak attack them all. That didn't go so well though as the ones capable of movement would welcome the sneak attack with a mule kick.
Francis' face was so mashed up together that he barely had the time to inject himself with a blood vial before suffocating. He suffered through the long fights with the hideous beasts and came out wiser. He was short several blood vials though. In his mind, he wouldn't use those withered servants' blood unless it was his last resort. So he decided to explore every nook and cranny of the ground floor. He fought the mosquitos, lost many blood vials, but found nothing of use to him outside. That frustrated him.
As Francis walked across the main hall, his footsteps echoed through the building. The servants were still polishing the marble ground, not minding his existence. The chandeliers that hung from the ceiling reflected on the polished floor. This intensified the light that spread around in the place. Francis couldn't help but admire the interior design of the castle. 'These people knew how to show off.'
He noticed a wooden chest in the distance, hidden behind a small bookcase under the stairs. He walked faster towards the chest and inspected it with his insight. There was a golden light emitting from it. 'This means treasure!' Francis felt excited as he opened the box.
In his excitement, he didn't notice those faint crying sounds. In his excitement, he reached with his hand and took the weapon that lay inside. In his excitement, he didn't notice the dagger aimed at his back until it was too late. Sharp pain penetrated his back as he jumped forward and turned around. That scene seemed to have agitated the servants as they all stopped what they were doing and looked at Francis.
Francis didn't notice the cries when he entered because they were barely audible against the sound of his footsteps. He also didn't notice them after he tried to open the chest because he was too excited to find his first treasure in Cainhurst. His previous fight against the mosquitos frustrated him. He thought that he'd find something valuable after he had to fend off against three mosquitos at the same time. Alas, there was absolutely nothing of great value in the castle grounds.
That frustration was soon washed off and replaced by excitement when he saw the chest. In short, he dropped his guard down and paid the price for it. After he evaded death, Francis turned around to face his assailant. A grey figure looked at Surgit with ghostly eyes. In fact, the whole figure was a ghost.
A woman, whose hands were bound together by shackles, held a knife and slowly advanced toward Francis. This woman's body was completely ethereal, yet her attacks felt real to Francis. 'What kind of sorcery is this?' Francis couldn't contain his surprise. Francis reluctantly used a blood vial to heal his wound. The knife had gotten deep into his back. His movements would be greatly hindered if he didn't heal up.
Francis pricked his ears and heard the other wails and cries. They were behind him, in front of him, upstairs and everywhere around him. He could only see the one that attacked him before but none of the rest. He quickly ran towards the ghost and slashed with his weapon. 'If their attacks can damage me, so can I.' He had to try. Deep down he feared not being able to damage them. He would have no way to fight back otherwise. Fortunately, the ghost let out a wail as its figure disappeared after one attack connected.
'As long as they don't ambush me, I should be fine.' Francis was hopeful again. His face regained some of its colors. 'I need to find the queen, but I know that this castle has too many secrets of its own. I must tread carefully. Perhaps I should seek his aid…'