There wasn't much they could do or collect now. The two set off, taking the third entrance to exit the cave. This led to a long, narrow tunnel—about forty meters wide.
"Hey, do you at least remember your name?" Kai asked, having nothing else to distract him.
As for the girl, he didn't want to pressure her too soon. He knew firsthand how painful it was to search through shattered memories, like trying to stitch a soul back to its broken body.
"No… not yet. I can only recall bits and pieces from just before I woke up. But within those… there's no trace of who I was."
The girl's green-glowing eyes dimmed slightly as she pressed her fingers to her temple.
"Don't rush it," Kai said with a sigh. "Let's just focus on what we need to do for now."
They walked in silence, the dim light casting long shadows along the stone walls.
"Hey… do you see that?" the girl suddenly said, coming to a stop and pointing ahead.
Halfway through the tunnel, they spotted a few torches in the distance—and heard the unmistakable sound of bones grinding against bone.
"Yeah, I know that noise," Kai muttered. "Heard it earlier today. They're probably skeletons. We need to be careful… they look armed."
Kai crept forward cautiously, but the girl walked ahead with steady, unbothered steps. There was a fearlessness about her—almost reckless—that made Kai wonder if she even remembered what danger was.
"I think I can take them," she said suddenly.
She reached for a nearby rock embedded in the wall and tore it out as if it were made of clay.
Kai tried to do the same, curious if his undead body held similar strength. But his fingers slipped against the stone—no cracks, no movement. His power clearly lay elsewhere.
"Well, I don't doubt your strength," Kai said with a dry chuckle. "How about this—when we're almost out, throw that rock to distract them. Then we can prepare for a proper fight. Let's just hope it's only two."
They crept forward a bit more, and when they were close enough, the girl hurled the rock with all her might.
It tore through the air with a sharp whistle, slamming into the far wall with a deafening crack that echoed through the tunnel.
So much for subtlety.
The two skeletons—towering, nearly seven feet tall—turned their heads. Their empty but glowing eye sockets followed the stone's path, then shifted toward Kai and the girl.
"…Well, that failed," Kai whispered, tense. "But isn't it strange? They're not attacking."
The skeletons stood motionless.
"I think… they're yours," the girl said quietly. Somehow, deep within her, she felt a kinship with the undead as they took noticed of them. A connection she couldn't explain—but also couldn't ignore.
"I… didn't know that was possible," Kai muttered. "But maybe you're right."
He stood still, running through possibilities in his head. Then he did the most logical thing he could think of.
"Hey, you two. Come here!" he called out.
The skeletons turned—and nodded.
They approached calmly, as if eager to serve. Kai, stunned by how easily they obeyed, could only raise a hand to his forehead in disbelief.
"…What a fool. Of course a necromancer would have guards," he groaned. "And if I inherited his power, then those under him are probably mine now."
He let out a long sigh.
"Well, let's take a breath and explore a bit more," he said, rising to his feet. His body still ached from the mana loss, but he didn't sense immediate danger.
Then, without warning, the girl clutched her stomach. She began trembling.
Kai spun toward her. "What is it?! Are you alright?"
She grunted, a low growl rising in her throat. Her body shook.
"I think… I'm hungry! I need food—or I'm going to go crazy!" she screamed.
With a feral roar, she slammed her hands into the stone wall, clawing into it like it was soft clay. Her fingers gouged the rock with terrifying strength.
Kai froze, panic creeping in.
"But we don't have anything you can eat… I didn't see anything like food in the lab either."
His mind raced.
She's not human anymore. What would even count as food?
"Wait—hold on! Let me talk to someone!"
He reached out with his mind and forcefully switched bodies—abandoning the wight girl's world for the body of Gilgrim in the other realm.
As soon as Kai returned to the other body, he saw Ysaria lounging in her chair, flipping through a book. A few crystals lay in front of her—halfway drained like the leftovers someone would leave after eating. She looked up with a bored expression, as if she'd been waiting.
"Oh, back already?" she said, closing the book lazily. "What is it this time? You look like something went wrong."
"She's starving," Kai said urgently. "That girl I told you about—the wight. She's losing it. What the hell do wights eat? I think… if I wait too long, she might try to eat me."
Ysaria didn't even flinch.
"Easy," she said. "Meat. All kinds of meat."
She tapped the table, unconcerned. "You mentioned a bunch of corpses back in the chamber where you were summoned, right? I was hoping you'd run into enemies and she'd eat them, that was what should have happened naturally. But I guess that didn't?"
Kai grimaced, trying not to throw up.
"No, the only thing we seen so far are some skeletons that seemed to belong to me. As for the girl can she really eat those?! The corpses from the ritual? Isn't there… another way?"
"She's a wight," Ysaria replied with a shrug. "What did you think gave her that strength? She's not just undead—she's a predator. Meat feeds her core. The more mana-laced or fresh, the better. You want her sane and strong? Then feed her."
Kai's stomach twisted.
"That's disgusting," he muttered, holding back bile. "Isn't there some kind of potion or fruit substitute?! Anything?"
"Nope." Ysaria returned to her book. "You're lucky she hasn't bitten off one of your fingers by now. She probably wants to. So get back there before she stops holding back."
Kai didn't wait. "Damn it… when I get back here I will…"
He clenched his jaw, closed his eyes, and switched back to his original body.
The cavern was silent—but the tension was not.
The girl was crouched low, her body trembling. Her glowing eyes were wild with hunger as she inched toward him, fingers curled like claws.
"Hey!" Kai shouted, backing up. "H-Hold on—I've got a solution! Just—just don't eat me, okay?!"