After recovering from his fall, Alexander moved around carefully for a few minutes to get accustomed to the physical enchantments his new orichalcum ring provided.
As a magic tool, it was far more powerful than anything he had ever used before. Perhaps even being in the same league as magic items that would be considered national treasurers.
"Wow. This feels like it weights almost nothing." Alexander said as he lifted a large piece of rubble with one hand.
For several minutes, he marveled at the strength he now had, until Tharildron's booming voice echoed into his head.
'I think that is enough playing around! Or do you intend to waste more of your energy and ultimately starve to death here!'
Alexander reflexively winced at what his mind perceived as a loud noise. While the shadow dragon inhabiting his body could not control him in any way, it certainly was capable of irritating him.
Not wanting to hear his unwanted companion's voice again, Alexander headed back the way he came without further delay.
Now that he was equipped with a far more powerful magic tool, he did not fear the ghast that might possibly still be waiting for him. Instead of wandering through labyrinthine halls without a clue about where he was, he figured it would be better to retrace his steps back to the castle's main entrance.
There was also something he had lost along the way that he wanted to retrieve. During his scuffle with the six ghasts, he had thrown his sword's sheath as a distraction. Without it, he was forced to keep it in one of his hands or store it away in the dimensional cache. Neither of which were particularly convenient.
"Looks like they've moved on."
When Alexander reached the stairs he had left the ghasts behind at, the six undead monstrosities were no longer there.
He let out a small sigh of relief seeing this. Surely, he was more confident in fighting them now, but that did not mean he wanted to. They were both horrifying and smelled putrid. No one in their right mind would ever want to encounter such things.
"Here it is."
It only took Alexander a couple dozen seconds of searching to find his sword's sheath.
Dust covered it, and the spot where it had impacted the ghast was stained by some sort of foul liquid.
Still, its griminess was not enough reason for Alexander to refuse to retrieve it.
"I honestly look and smell like I've been running around in a waste disposal pit." Alexander muttered glumly as he appraised his appearance.
Even after long days of training with his sword instructor that left him drenched in sweat, he had not felt quite as unclean as he was now.
Unfortunately, there weren't likely to be any functional bathing facilities in this ruined castle, and even if there were, it would be too dangerous to use them.
'I wanted to head straight home, but it will probably be better to stop by a smaller town beforehand and get cleaned up. There's also the matter of figuring out which item in the dimensional cache to sell. I won't be satisfied if I can't throw a bag of coins in my father's face once I return.'
Alexander continued to stay lost in thought as he travelled the path he originally came through.
However, a couple of hallways before reaching the exit, a familiar, truly horrendous smell assaulted his senses.
Alerted to the presence of at least one nearby ghasts, Alexander slowed down and carefully observed his surroundings.
Thankfully, there did not seem to be any hiding nearby, so he stealthy made his way towards the exit in hopes of escaping without being found.
"I guess they're not going to make it easy for me."
Skulking around the entrance hall were three ghasts.
Alexander was uncertain if these undead monstrosities were part of the group of six that had chased him around the castle earlier since they all looked vaguely the same.
"The other three might be roaming around nearby, or in the worst case, this unit could be unrelated and the original group of six that might still be hunting me." Alexander mussed aloud.
For a few moments, he contemplated his best course of action.
With his enhanced power, he felt confident that he could win, but was wondering if there might be some other items in his dimensional cache that he could try out.
Yet, as he was busy thinking, Tharildron's voice soon echoed through his head.
'What are you doing just standing around daydreaming?! They've already noticed that you are in the vicinity, and it is only a matter of time until they find you.'
His undesired partner's warning brought Alexander out of his deep thought, and when he glanced around the corner, he could see the ghasts intently smelling the air.
Certainly, he could make out their rotting stench from afar, but in turn, he smelled like a mouthwatering delicacy to them.
"Fine. Doesn't seem like there's time to try anything fancy."
Showing not a hint of the fear he had before, Alexander rushed into the entrance hall and charged towards the nearest ghast.
He was doing his best to control the power coursing through him, but a couple of times he nearly lost his balance.
Naturally, the three ghasts did not stand idly by as he approached, and each of them raced towards him with madness in their eyes. Whichever one reached him first was certain that it would be able to tear off the largest share of warm flesh that was sorely lacking in this long-abandoned place.
"Hah!"
With a blindingly fast slash, Alexander sliced the head off of the ghast that reached him before the other two. He had not done anything fancy, simply utilizing the enhancement magic enveloping his body and swinging with all of his might.
This show of power caused the other two undead racing towards Alexander to slow down and stop.
While they may have lost almost all semblance of their former humanity, they still retained enough rationality to recognize a major threat.
"Come on! Which one of you is next!" Alexander jeered. Seeming almost intoxicated by his new abilities.
The ghasts did not respond to his taunting, however. They kept close to each other and let out menacing growls towards Alexander.
"Well, if you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
In an almost arrogant fashion, Alexander started slowly walking towards the two ghasts. A feeling of elation was growing inside him at being able to strike fear into the monsters that had previously terrorized him.
As he approached, the undead backed away at the same pace, all the while continuing to snarl at him.
Alexander continued to brazenly move forward, never realizing that he was heading towards a trap until it was too late.
The instant he walked past another intersecting hallway, the remaining three ghasts that were part of this group leapt out of shadows and lunged towards him.
'Move you imbecile!'
Spurred on by Tharildron's voice, Alexander pressed his right foot down hard and launched himself backwards.
Just barely did he avoid being cut by one of the ambushing ghasts' claws which would have infected him with paralyzing venom.
'I find it hard to believe that you beat me not too long ago. Your movements back then were far better despite only having access to an inferior magic tool.'
Alexander wanted to snap back that he would be in better condition if he still had all of his left leg but held his tongue.
He needed to keep his focus on the five ghasts that were moving together to encircle him.
'I'm still not used to my shadow leg and the physical enhancement from the orichalcum ring. Just because I got a bit stronger, doesn't mean I should allow myself to become conceited.'
Realizing that he had let his newfound power go to his head, Alexander took a deep breath and calmed down a bit.
Undoubtedly, he was faster and stronger than before, but he was in far less control of his body. One wrong move and he could go tumbling again or lose grip on his sword. Only now that he thought back on it, did he recognize how close he was to slamming his weapon into a wall when he dispatched the first ghast.
Thankfully, his earlier display of prowess did have the ghasts acting cautiously. When he met them before, they had charged him without worry. Now though, they were advancing carefully.
'Don't be hasty. Even if I could win through sheer ability, a single mistake could spell the end. These things aren't truly alive. They won't flinch at pain and will probably sacrifice parts of their bodies if it means getting at me. I need to take the course of action that offer the least amount of risk.'
Alexander put his head to work to think up a strategy that would bring him victory without putting himself in too much danger. It did not need to be anything grandiose, all that mattered was that it worked.
Soon, he remembered his earlier folly and smirked.
"Catch me if you can." Alexander said before turning around and running away.
This stroked the ghasts' predatory instincts, and they began chasing after their fleeing prey.
Except, when the leader of the pack rounded a corner Alexander had just gone around, it did not see the back of its target, but the gleaming tip of a sword.
Unable to stop, its head was impaled by the blade. For a second the undead monster squirmed around, attempting to save itself. Yet it was already too late. Within just a few moments its body went limp, and the blasphemous vestige of life remaining within it was gone.
As the other four caught up, Alexander dislodged the corpse stuck to his blade by kicking it. The limp body flew off and crashed into the group.
During the bout of confusion this caused, Alexander stepped forward and decapitated another of the undead monsters before taking off again.
Enraged, the three remaining ghasts took off after him.
Once Alexander dove into another side corridor, the ghasts slowed down and prepared to break his ambush. One of them was likely to die, but the other two would exploit the opening when Alexander struck to sink their claws and teeth into him.
Except, he was not waiting right around the corner with his sword at the ready like last time, but instead standing farther away with his weapon sheathed.
"You can eat this instead."
Holding a fistful of broken up rubble, Alexander put all of his strength into his arm, and he tossed a barrage of rocks.
There was no real technique in his throw, relying purely on force and volume to hit his targets.
In fact, most of the small chunks of rubble missed the ghasts entirely, but the few that did connect, tore through flesh and shattered bones.
Not a single one of the ghasts fell to this attack. Still, it did rob them of some of their mobility. Even if they did not feel pain, their bodies could not move properly if they were too damaged.
Slowly, Alexander continued to whittle down the three ghasts' strength, until the undead monsters became the ones running away from him.
Eventually, he cut the last one's head off and came out victorious without ever putting himself in much danger.
"Now the last obstacle in my way is gone."
His head held up high, Alexander walked back towards the castle's main entrance, and finally exited the hellish place where he had dealt with one terror after the next.