He had decided to stick with his plan to not increase the difficulty. It wasn't fear from the last quest, but something else told him not to. He couldn't put his finger on it so he assumed it was his luck attribute and listened. When the light engulfed him he braced himself for whatever came next. When the light faded he found himself standing on a cobblestone road in front of staircase. He looked around and found a city that felt a bit like Victorian London. Tall buildings, dark streets and alleys illuminated by tall lamp posts. The whole thing felt like a murder mystery novel waiting to happen. He assumed he was supposed to head down the stairs but didn't want to rush. He would feel like an idiot if he made a mistake due to recklessness. He circulated the Nine Lightning Canon for a moment to get a feel of the energy. Compared to the last quest he might as well have been in a paradise. It wasn't as good as his chamber but it was still nice. He considered taking a seat to absorb the energy but decided against it. Between the potential danger and time limit he wanted to get in and out as soon as possible. It took almost two minutes before he received the quest notification.

  A mysterious cult has plagued the city of Freyfair. The cult is believed to be hiding in the catacombs beneath the city. The King has instructed the royal guard to purge the catacombs to rid themselves of a cult. Head into the catacombs and kill the head of the cult before the royal guard arrives.

  Well, that seemed pretty straight forward. Which put him on edge. The quest should have an over 60% chance of death. Going down there should be the same as entering some fantasy dungeon. Not that there was anything he could do about it now. He looked around but there was no sign of the guard or anyone which should mean he would have a few hours. At least if the government here was like back home. They would need to set up a staging area, gather people, talk about it and then go down. When he got to the bottom of the stairs he found a wrought iron gate with a skull design in the middle. The gate was unlocked. Which meant either someone had gone down already or the Network had arranged that hurdle for him. He nodded, braced himself and then headed down into the earth.

  He got to the bottom of the stairs and entered into a chamber lit by several stone sconces. He decided to take one in case the rest of the place was dark. If he could save himself some energy he would. The walls were rough stone that made his skin crawl. It reminded him of the horror movies he used to watch. Those and the stories of people who got lost in the Paris catacombs. He summoned a bit of electricity around his finger and carved a mark into the stone. The wall might as well have been made out of tissue paper for how easy he cut into it. He made a mental note to mark any future passageways or turns he made. He wasn't sure if he could return to the surface since he had no idea how the Network would handle a failure. For all he knew the outside world ceased as soon as he entered. It should still help him make a sort of map of this place. With all his preparation taken care of he headed down the tunnel to his right.

  The tunnel sloped downward halfway through which only added to the descent feeling. He rubbed his arms while his eyes scanned the shadows around him. The ceiling had to be around ten feet or so in the chambers but only eight feet in the tunnel. Which made him feel like he needed to bend over. He knew his head wasn't close to the top, but the knowledge did little. He reached his first fork in the road about ten minutes later. Though it wasn't much of a choice. The tunnel to his right had collapsed and from what he could see a building had fallen in from above. At least a part of it anyway. He shifted left and continued. Half remembered movie adventuring lessons. Filled his mind as he tried to distract himself from the claustrophobic world. "Next time the quest needs to be somewhere pleasant." He grumbled. His voice shattered the silence and increased his unease. He felt like an invader into the world of the dead.

  He continued the rest of the way in silence until he reached a large chamber. The center of the room held a round pillar about twenty feet in diameter. The pillar held three unlit torches but was otherwise mundane. On either side of the thirty- or forty-foot-wide room were alcoves with covered corpses. The corpses were wrapped in a way that reminded him of mummies though not quite the same. The faces of the bodies were exposed and desiccated. He didn't need any special senses to know what was about to happen. It felt like watching a slow-motion train wreck, one where there was nothing you could do to stop it. The fact that it was unavoidable didn't mean he had to go into unprepared. He activated both Static Bolt and Severing Disc. The skills formed, one above each hand. He considered imbuing them with his Dao but realized he couldn't. He could do it with Static Bolt fine but Severing Disc wouldn't accept the mental energy. He made a mental note to figure out what was going on with it later. For now he had zombies to fight. He stepped into the room and sure enough the bodies groaned and then stood up.

  He heard four thuds, two of which were from the bodies he could see so he knew there were at least two more bodies. He divided and launched his attacks at his two targets. The corpses hadn't even tried to dodge. The one hit by electrical attack as the electricity spread through it. The other lost its left leg. Neither was enough to put the monsters down. He chided himself for not taking out there heads when the next two corpses came into view. He took a step back as he unleashed his skills again. Only this time he removed the creature's heads. The battle was over before it had started. It was so easy that it stunned him. These things weren't anywhere near the power of the monsters from the last quest so why were they here? It was then that he realized something. He hadn't gotten any kill energy. He turned toward the bodies and kicked them to be sure. When nothing moved, he sighed. He wasn't sure if the corpses were considered weapons and thus no kill energy or if it was something else. It didn't matter. The challenge of the quest would be in energy conservation. He couldn't afford to miss.

  Despite the creepy atmosphere his heart pounded with enthusiasm. He picked his torch up off the ground and continued on. With the corpses gone the room was pretty empty. There were words written on the stone. Either the symbols and words were too damaged, or his skill couldn't translate it. He decided not to worry about it too much. He didn't want to waste any more time since the quest didn't say anything about the guards knowing he was here. The last thing he needed was the guards finding the ruined bodies and then blaming him. He had to walk up a set of stairs and head through another door to enter the next section of the catacombs. He faced off against several more zombies, none of which provided energy. It wasn't until he entered a chamber covered in a strange shadow that he hesitated. At first, he thought the chamber was dark, but his instincts were at a dull ache. It didn't feel like danger, more like a warning. Whatever it was he wasn't willing to risk it. He summoned a small bit of electricity and shot it into the darkness. When the light went out, he knew something was wrong. When a snickering voice ended the silence, he knew he was in danger.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  A moment later a woman floated up out of the ground. She wore a ruined Victorian style dress with tears spreads throughout. She had darkened waterlogged skin as if she had been drowned. The small bits of hair she had hung loose on her scalp as if it was falling out. The woman's cold empty eye sockets focused on him and his instincts shifted to a roar. Time slowed to a crawl as he rushed to activate Severing Disc. The moment before the skill formed felt like an eternity. As the woman opened her horrid mouth and screamed. Sorrow and tragedy slammed into him like a freight train. For a moment it felt like his head had been forced beneath a pitch-black sea. In the next, he returned to the catacomb and launched his attack. The disc passed straight through the ghost and into the stone behind her. His eyes widened as panic warred with sorrow and fear inside him. He wanted to run away but managed to stop himself. Something was wrong. Blood dripped from his nose as he fell to one knee. He steadied his mind by focusing on what he knew. He knew the attack hit. He knew the attack was real. Which meant the problem was with the attack.

  The wailing intensified to the point blood dripped out of his eyes. Panic warred with reason. A war he was losing. He threw his hand forward and unleashed a blast of electricity. One formed from his Dao. This time the lightning hit the ghost and blasted her back. Her infernal song ended, and he fought to get back to his feet. The ghost let out a curse in whatever insane language she spoke. He gritted his teeth and unleashed blast of static. He couldn't let her wail again. When the attack singed the ghost's chest he grinned. Now that he knew for sure he could hit her. He could beat her. The banshee wouldn't go down that easy though. She sunk into the stone at her feet and disappeared. Maximilian embraced his Dao and let the electricity dance across his skin. The confidence it provided fought the pounding in his chest. He scanned every surface for the ghost. Waiting was almost worse than the sound. After what felt like an eternity she reappeared. Her wailing already begun. He bit back a scream and unleashed another blast. This time the ghost's wail ended abruptly, and the uncomfortable silence returned. He took a deep calming breath to get himself under control. It wasn't until fresh kill energy surged into him that he let out a sigh of relief.

  The darkness began to dissipate which told him that the danger was gone. At least for now. Now that he had a moment to reflect on what happened he realized two things. First there were enemies that could only be hurt by dao. Which meant that someone else would have died here. Or been forced to run away. He imagined that other people would start to comprehend their own dao soon. So, it shouldn't be a big deal for much longer. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if the Network had customized this for him. The quest seemed designed to teach him something. The energy need forced him to be accurate which for a ranged fighter was a must. Next, he fought an enemy that only dao could hurt. The day after he gained his first. It could be a coincidence but that seemed unlikely. He shook off the worry and focused. He knew that the Network was training everyone so it made sense. There was also nothing he could do but push forward.

  He had to fight his way through several more corpses as he headed deeper and deeper underground. As he headed deeper the tombs began to change. The shelves of bodies were nestled into wall. Each one had a plaque that described the person interred. The method of interment changed as well. They were still mummified but the materials around them were more expensive. He assumed that he had entered the middle-class areas. Which made it all the odder that the rare pieces of jewelry were still here. He didn't need to look for any of it which meant whoever this cult was wasn't after the money. They also didn't feel like necromancers. Rather the zombies felt more like means to an end. Like bad guards instead of the beginnings of an undead invasion. "What are you here for?"

  He half hoped someone leap from the stone to answer his question. Though the last time that happened he didn't like it at all. He had turned down another split in the tunnels when he stopped. His foot frozen in the air as if stuck against an invisible force. He had been so distracted that he hadn't noticed it at first, but something was wrong. It was like when he encountered the ghost only the warning was more palpable. He pulled his foot back and stared into the darkness. His torch illuminated about ten feet ahead. Which was enough for him to feel uncomfortable. He knelt down and examined the tiles in front of him. It took him several seconds to see what he had missed. One of the stones was uneven and raised. He rolled his eyes at the stupidity of almost getting killed by a trap, in a tomb. He wasn't sure how to deal with it. He was sure this wasn't the only one here so he could risk stepping over it or try to trigger it. If he stepped over it and needed to flee backwards. He would be in trouble. If he triggered it and the trap destroyed the hall he would be fucked.

  The more he thought about it the more he landed on triggering it. He doubted the trap would destroy everything. The trap was here to either deal with grave robbers or the cult left them. If it was grave robbers the city would want the corpses to survive the trap. If it was the cult then the cultist would want to be able to come and go still. Trapping themselves down here would be stupid. Of course, the unspoken possibility was that there were many ways in and out. He took activated Prismatic Barrier to be on the safe side. He took a moment to hype himself up and then he triggered the trap. There was a soft click and then seven needles shot out of the darkness and into his shield. The needles weren't sharp or strong enough to get through the barrier so he had worried for nothing. He picked up the needles and flinched. They were like acupuncture needles on Earth, the kind with sharp points on either side. A purple liquid that made his skin crawl covered the needles.

  He passed his spiritual energy through each one he had cleaned them all. He then slipped them into his bag. He wasn't going to be needle throwing assassin any time soon but who knew what would be useful. It also helped that it would look pretty cool. He continued forward and found three more needle traps. Which brought his needle count to twenty-one. He continued into the catacombs until he across a large stone door. The door held a coat of arms that was a serpent coiled around a crown. The serpent's eyes were the color of emeralds and almost seemed to be staring at him. He even moved around to make sure it wasn't some kind of array or other magic. The door's seam split the serpent and crown down the middle. This was a dead end for this path which meant he other needed to go into the boss like chamber or he had to go back. He placed a hand against the stone and pushed it open. The door creaked as it opened. A sound that felt ten times louder than it was.

  The room behind it was the size of a school atrium. Five braziers on either side ignited as he stepped inside. There was a white wooden sarcophagus with black filigree in the middle of the room. Above the coffin was a statue of a man with a staff raised as if in defiance of the heavens. He wasn't sure who he was, but he was able to put together some assumptions. This place was either the tomb of hero or a noble. Further he should've been a mage and a prominent one at that since guards surrounded him. He took a breath and prepared himself for what was about to happen.