After thinking for a while, he decided that perhaps this pillar should tell the future, not the past.
All the pillars he came across told the story of this city, but wasn't his coming here and his future battle with the boss also part of the story of this city?
Of course it should be.
Kael looked around and locked eyes with the ghosts, none of them attacking him or looking at him threateningly. Would they try to protect him in the coming battle, as his guide had done before, or would they continue to act as if nothing had happened?
Although there were still parts of the city he had yet to explore, he decided it would be better to save that for later. His priority was to return to the campsite and examine this armour he had found, to test its durability.
Although the armour seemed to be quite sturdy, he could not be sure without testing it.
On the way back, the ghosts also followed Kael and kept an eye on him. Although they encountered a few evil ghosts during the journey, the ghosts, realising that they were outnumbered, preferred to run away instead of attacking him.
The first thing he did when they returned to the ruins where he camped was to eat. He had come from a long journey, and what he had learnt and experienced had strained him both mentally and physically.
After finishing his meal, he sat in front of the armour.
He had seen the runes on the armour before and noticed the similarity with the runes on his sword. Both the sword and the armour seemed to be made of the same material. Considering the similarity of the runes, he had the impression that these two pieces were two halves of a whole.
This was the first ghost that had fought the boss before, he had seen it while examining the pillars, although he recognised the sword, he had no knowledge of the armour at the time.
Realising this, he decided not to make unnecessary experiments to test the strength of the armour.
He thought that these two pieces of armour would be bound to him by magic when --- if --- they passed the test.
He had heard similar stories before.
Magic did not bind any weapon to a person's soul during the first test and waited for the result of the test.
When the test was over, a categorisation was made according to the achievements and the creatures killed.
A similar thing was true for the cores that the creatures he killed were supposed to give him.
Normally, he should have been able to heal his wounds or use enhancements on himself using the cores he obtained from the creatures he killed, but magic did not allow this during the first test.
Except for the voice in his mind informing him of the creatures they had killed during the first test, he was a completely ordinary person.
While Kael was thinking to himself, the ghosts were slowly disappearing due to the 12-hour cycle.
Kael still didn't know why ghosts disappeared and reappeared in a cycle.
'I guess they need a rest too.' He thought to himself.
Then he added.
"I think I should get some rest too."
Since the ghosts had disappeared and he knew that the ghosts would protect him even if they returned, he extinguished the cold flame torch and went to his sleeping place.
Kael had a hard time falling asleep because there was no bed or pillow for him to relax on, but eventually he was able to fall asleep.
* * *
When she woke up, the ghosts were still not around and that meant she could have some time to herself.
After a month in the fallen city, his already long white hair had grown even longer and started to bother him.
Using a puddle of water on the side of the street, she had roughly cut her hair with her silver sword, and now her hair, though rather shapeless and unfashionable, gave her a distinctive look. She looked just like the actresses in the films.
After cutting his hair, he went to a water source he discovered 2 weeks ago. She had discovered this place during her expeditions to meet her water needs, and she would occasionally come here and fill the bottles she had found in the first campsite and had been with her since then and take a shower.
The weather was quite cold, but when he cut his hair, it was full of hair and it was very uncomfortable for him.
Here Kael took a short shower and cleansed himself of hair.
When he returned, he thought that the reappearance of the ghosts was imminent, so he put on the armour and waited.
The armour fit his body just the way he wanted and did not bother him at all.
The ghosts slowly reappeared.
They were all looking at him with hope. New hope.
Kael was now a man with armour, a sword and a small troop to help him, but there was still something missing. Experience.
He didn't know how to use these ghosts in battle, and he didn't know his limitations. How many ghosts could he fight at the same time?
He thought he could easily defeat 3 ghosts with his new armour. If he pushed hard, he could defeat 5 ghosts, but then what?
The only thing he had to do today to find out the answer to all this was to hunt, and so he would.
* * *
Kael had long ago observed that ghosts, fearing numerical disadvantage, changed direction and used this to find new opponents.
He had given orders to his soldiers --- the ghosts who were in favour of helping him--- to chase their enemies towards him and they had followed this order to the letter.
A moment later, seeing 4 ghosts in front of him, Kael was already on his guard and prepared to fight them.
Although the ghosts were at first afraid of the soldiers, they were watching themselves quite far away, and only 2 soldiers were standing next to Kael to help him in case of a possible mishap. One of them was, of course, the ghost who had been with him all this time and guided him.
When the ghosts surrounded him in a half circle, Kael really didn't know exactly what to do.
He guessed that allowing his opponents to use their numerical advantage would make it difficult for him, so he decided to make the first attack himself.
The first attack was aimed at the ghost standing closest to him, to his far left. Kael made a quick stabbing attack in an attempt to destroy his opponent in one go, but the ghost threw itself backwards at the last moment, out of range of the sword, but this evasive action was not enough, and a second attack, coming at him from the east, caused its destruction.
[Congratulations, you killed the Ghost of the Fallen City.]
3 ghosts were surprised by the sudden death of their friend
Kael reholstered his sword after the ghost he had slain, watching the other three ghosts carefully as they surrounded him. The ghosts hesitated briefly at the disappearance of their companion, but that hesitation turned to anger, making Kael's job even more difficult. The three of them mobilised and began to attack Kael.
Kael parried one of the oncoming attacks with a swing of his sword, but the other two ghosts were trying to attack, one from his right, the other from behind him. He backed away quickly, getting into a position where he could see the ghost behind him. For a moment he seemed to lose his balance, but he was used to controlling the weight of his armour. He kicked the ghost behind him in a spinning motion, stunning it for a brief moment.
But in the meantime, the ghost to his right quickly attacked. Kael raised his sword to block the ghost's attack, but the force of the blow forced him to retreat a few steps. Just then, one of the ghost soldiers, who had been watching from a distance, rushed forward as if determined to help and began to distract the ghost on the right.
"Thanks, mate," Kael muttered, trying to control his breathing.
There were still two ghosts in front of Kael, and this time they were moving more cautiously. The red glow in the ghosts' eyes was even more intense, as if they were even more determined in their attack. Kael knew he had to come up with a plan; if he tried to fight them all at once, rather than one at a time, he might tire and make a mistake.
Just then his armour glowed faintly, the runes on it beginning to emit a subtle light. Kael did not know what it meant, but he felt that this buff would help him.
Kael was the first to act on this thought. He targeted a ghost and moved quickly towards it, but it was a bluff attack. The ghost thought it had dodged Kael's sword, but Kael used his armour to stun it with a shoulder strike. Without a moment's hesitation, he dealt the final blow to the stunned ghost.
[Congratulations, you have killed the Ghost of the Fallen City.]
Realising that the number of opponents was down to 2, the soldier who had tried to help him retreated again and continued to watch the fight.
The two remaining ghosts began to work more synchronised with each other as they saw another friend destroyed, but it was not enough to defeat Kael.
Kael exchanged a mock attack with the ghost in front of him, watching the other. When the ghost to his right rushed at him, Kael ducked and swung his sword. This ghost had better reflexes; it avoided the blow at the last moment, but lost its balance in the process. Kael took advantage of this and used his armour to charge straight at it. When the ghost collapsed, he destroyed it with a final blow.
[Congratulations, you have killed the Ghost of the Fallen City.]
The last ghost looked into Kael's eyes. He was alone now, and his anger had turned to fear. Kael took a step forward, pointing his sword, and the ghost stepped back.
"Won't you run?" Kael asked, his voice determined and mocking.
But the ghost had no intention of running. Or rather, there was nowhere for it to run. Using one last chance to attack, he lunged towards Kael, but Kael was waiting for this attack and with a single move, he destroyed his opponent.
[Congratulations. You have killed the Ghost of the Fallen City.]