The night at the mountain cabin was unusually quiet.
Everyone gathered around the fireplace with warm drinks in their hands while talking about the expedition planned for the next morning.
Alaric Thomas sat comfortably in one corner and listened as Sam, Sarah, Juno, and the others traded stories about previous outdoor adventures.
For people who genuinely loved extreme exploration, every successful trip seemed to feel like being given another life.
Holly and Beth listened closely whenever Rebecca or Juno spoke about difficult climbs and dangerous caves, while Sam occasionally joined in with questions of her own.
People were naturally curious about things they were preparing to experience for the first time.
Alaric was probably the only person in the cabin who felt little excitement.
If the Ghost Cards didn’t exist, there was no chance he would willingly crawl into an unknown cave where he already suspected monsters were waiting.
Even with two contained cannibals available, he still considered the expedition dangerous.
The only reason he had accepted was that most of his classmates had somehow chosen even worse vacation destinations.
Crystal Lake, isolated monasteries, abandoned hospitals, remote islands, and several other suspicious places had all appeared in their plans.
A few people had even talked about traveling overseas to places famous for disturbing supernatural legends.
Compared with those choices, the creatures from The Descent almost seemed reasonable.
The Crawlers were horrifying underground predators, but at least they possessed physical bodies that could be seen, injured, and killed.
Alaric would choose a monster he could shoot over an invisible curse or demon any day.
He stopped listening to the conversation and glanced at the rifle resting nearby.
Juno had been right about one thing: moving through narrow caves with a full-sized rifle hanging from his body could easily become a problem.
Getting the weapon caught while crawling through a tight passage would be an embarrassing way to die.
“If only I had some kind of storage space,” Alaric muttered.
If he possessed something like that, he could carry far more equipment without worrying about weight or mobility.
Given enough room, Alaric would happily bring enough supplies to survive underground for weeks.
The thought of being able to carry an entire armory was particularly comforting.
As if responding to that thought, something suddenly changed inside his mind.
One of the fifty-four Ghost Cards separated from the rest.
The card appeared before him.
[Ace of Hearts] [Function: Item Containment] [Unlock Requirement: Contain a Vengeful Spirit / Witch / Demon / Evil Ghost / Other Qualifying Supernatural Entity] [Contain one qualifying entity to unlock] Alaric stared at the information for several seconds.
He hadn’t expected the Ghost Cards to contain a dedicated storage ability, but the unlocking requirement wasn’t exactly easy.
Every category listed sounded considerably more dangerous than the cannibals he had already captured.
If an ordinary harmless ghost qualified, things would be much easier.
Then again, wasting a useful card on something completely powerless simply to unlock storage didn’t sound particularly smart either.
He would eventually have to find a supernatural target worth containing.
Another piece of information surfaced in his mind.
[Note: Contained entities are not permanently bound to a Ghost Card.
A card can become available again if its contained entity dies or is otherwise removed.] Alaric suddenly thought of another possibility.
He stood up and casually told the others he was stepping outside for a minute.
Once he was far enough from the windows, he summoned the Two of Spades and released Saw-Tooth into the darkness.
The enormous cannibal appeared silently and waited for instructions.
Alaric handed him the rifle.
Saw-Tooth accepted the weapon without difficulty.
He wasn’t intelligent by normal standards, but he knew how to carry and use weapons, which meant the rifle counted as equipment he could reasonably possess.
Alaric immediately recalled him into the Two of Spades.
The rifle disappeared with him.
“It actually works.” Alaric examined the card and quickly understood the limitation.
A contained subordinate could take along equipment it could personally carry and use, but the card couldn’t simply become an unlimited storage container.
Saw-Tooth could enter with a rifle or backpack, but Alaric couldn’t attach a truck or aircraft to him and expect the Ghost Card to accept it.
That was still extremely useful.
His thoughts immediately moved in another direction.
If weapons counted as equipment, then armor should qualify as well as long as the contained creature could actually wear it.
Saw-Tooth already possessed abnormal strength, so giving him heavy protective gear could dramatically increase his usefulness.
One heavily armored Saw-Tooth could serve as the front-line fighter while One-Eye used lighter protection and supported him.
Give both appropriate weapons and Alaric could release them whenever a physical threat appeared.
Against most ordinary monsters, that combination would be terrifying.
Unfortunately, he had thought of it too late.
They were already deep in the Appalachian Mountains.
Returning to Florida and having specialized armor prepared for two deformed cannibals would take far too much time, and the expedition would be over before he returned.
Alaric could only save the idea for later.
…
When he returned to the cabin, the others were still talking enthusiastically around the fireplace.
Alaric sat back in his corner while Sam occasionally tried to pull him into the conversation, apparently worried that he felt left out.
Apart from Sam and Beth, however, he wasn’t particularly close to anyone in the group.
Alaric didn’t care about fitting in.
He found a comfortable position near the wall and eventually closed his eyes while everyone else continued talking.
Listening to another hour of expedition stories wasn’t going to improve his chances underground tomorrow.
By eleven that night, Sam had moved closer to where he was sleeping while the group was still chatting.
Their earlier plan to go to bed early and save energy had clearly been forgotten.
Alaric woke once because of their voices, glanced around, and quickly went back to sleep.
…
The next morning, pale mist covered the mountains.
Visibility initially extended less than a hundred yards through the trees, but the fog slowly began dispersing as the sun rose.
Even then, the weak morning sunlight provided little warmth.
Everyone gradually woke, ate breakfast, and started organizing their equipment.
Before leaving, Sam suggested taking a group photograph.
Alaric immediately volunteered to handle the camera rather than stand in front of it.
In his experience, the person behind the camera usually survived perfectly well unless the story happened to be found footage.
Found-footage cameramen were another matter entirely.
Sarah, Juno, Beth, Holly, Rebecca, and Sam gathered together outside the cabin.
Alaric adjusted the camera and took several photographs while the six women posed against the mountain scenery.
When Juno checked the pictures afterward, she surprisingly complimented his photography.
At around ten, the group finally departed.
Juno drove one of the off-road vehicles farther into the mountains until the road became too narrow and overgrown to continue.
Dense trees, brush, and uneven trails blocked the route ahead, forcing everyone to leave the vehicles and proceed on foot.
Alaric climbed out with his equipment and carefully examined their surroundings.
The forest here looked noticeably older and more isolated than the area around the cabin.
Tall trees crowded both sides of the narrow trail while a small stream flowed nearby through the undergrowth.
The farther they had traveled, the less the area resembled any place ordinary hikers would casually visit.
Alaric glanced toward Rebecca.
As the group’s experienced climber and caver, she should have noticed that something about their route felt unusual.
Perhaps she had noticed and simply didn’t care.
Experienced adventurers sometimes became bored with familiar routes and deliberately sought places that offered greater risk.
Juno and Rebecca naturally took the lead.
Sarah and Holly remained closer to the middle while Beth stayed near Alaric and Sam at the rear.
Beth had more experience than either of them and seemed determined to make sure the two younger members didn’t do anything reckless.
“Once we’re underground, don’t wander away from the group,” Beth reminded them.
“If someone tells you to stop or wait, listen the first time.
A cave isn’t a place where you want to learn from mistakes.” Alaric smiled slightly.
“Professor O’Brien, we’re not in class anymore.” “That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped being responsible for you.” Sam laughed beside them.
“She’s always like this.
You should be used to it by now.” Alaric shook his head but didn’t argue further.
Beth’s concern was genuine, and unlike some of the others, she wasn’t obsessed with proving how fearless she was.
In a place like this, caution was probably the healthiest personality trait anyone could possess.
The group continued along the mountain trail until nearly noon.
Partway through the hike, they discovered the mutilated carcass of a deer lying near the path.
Much of the animal had been eaten, yet its antlers remained untouched.
The scene immediately caught Alaric’s attention.
A human hunter wouldn’t normally abandon valuable antlers like that, while most natural predators wouldn’t leave a carcass in such an unusual condition without returning.
Something about the remains felt wrong.
Considering what Alaric already knew might inhabit these mountains, he didn’t need much imagination to guess what could have fed on it.
Juno and Holly reacted very differently.
Instead of treating the carcass as a warning, they excitedly gathered around it and started taking pictures.
Rebecca was more cautious but didn’t insist on turning back.
Alaric quietly handled the camera again while wondering whether everyone in this world had inherited the survival instincts of horror-movie characters.
Once the photos were finished, they continued forward.
The narrow stream beside the trail eventually connected with a clear mountain waterway flowing over rocks covered in moss.
The group followed it for another stretch before the trees gradually became thinner.
By then, the landscape looked increasingly barren compared with the thick forest below.
Eventually, they reached the cave.
At least, everyone except Juno believed they had reached the cave they were supposed to explore.
The entrance lay in a relatively flat area surrounded by dead trees and exposed stone.
It formed an irregular oval opening in the earth, with moss growing around the edges and darkness swallowing everything below.
Nothing nearby suggested that ordinary tourists ever came this way.
Alaric walked to the edge and looked down.
The shaft dropped almost vertically before disappearing into complete darkness.
Even with his Enhanced Vision, he couldn’t see the bottom.
Standing there, Alaric finally understood why places like this remained undiscovered for so long.
Hidden deep inside the Appalachian wilderness, the entrance looked less like a cave and more like the open mouth of something waiting underground.
An ordinary person could walk through these mountains for years without ever finding it.
Unfortunately, Juno had found it.
And now Alaric had too.
[Goal Tracker]