Swords, magic, and martial arts

The further they went into the cave, the dimmer it became. To avoid being discovered, Rhodes and his companions did not take out the torches they carried.

The group groped their way forward, and after walking for a while, their path was blocked by a stone gate.

"What should we do now? Break it open?" Baron asked.

Otto didn't say anything. He squatted down and groped around on the ground. After a while, he pressed a button on the ground, and the stone door was lifted up from above.

"Let's go in now," Otto said, and then he led the way, going inside first.

Baron and Hammer followed closely behind, followed by Webber and Sam. Rhodes brought up the rear, fearing an encounter with enemies ahead.

After Sam went inside, Rhodes had just stepped out when the stone door in front of him slammed shut with a "bang," almost crushing Rhodes's leg.

This startled Rhodes, who began to fumble around on the stone door. He accidentally touched a groove and pressed a hidden button inside.

After the button was pressed, Rhodes heard a rumbling sound behind him. He turned around but saw nothing. He turned back and pressed his back against the stone door, guarding the passage they had come from.

A series of loud crashing sounds came from behind the stone gate.

It must have been Baron and his men who were ramming the stone gate.

"How are you doing out there, Rhodes?" Baron's voice came from behind the stone door.

"I'm fine, I haven't encountered any danger yet," Rod replied.

"Alright, go back the way you came, leave this cave and go back to the 'Frostwolf Fang' tavern in Icestone City. If you stay here, you might run into bandits returning from outside," Baron said.

"Okay, then be careful." Rod quickly prepared to slip away after hearing what Baron said, but he was also a little worried. Could the sounds he had just heard be the return of the bandits?

If so, a battle will definitely break out when they meet.

Rhodes thought about his mission again. Even though he wasn't there, the objective had been achieved, so it should still count as mission completion, right?

Having encountered no traps along the way, Rhodes lit his torch and headed back. After a while, he discovered that there were three intersections on his way back.

They must have come in from one of them, but when Rhodes went back, he saw three of them.

They hadn't lit any torches and had come in in the dark, so Rhodes and the others hadn't noticed this.

It's also possible that Rhodes was fiddling around on the door and pressed a button that controls the mechanism to open the other two doors.

Rod stopped at the intersection and began to carefully recall which intersection he should have come from.

But he couldn't remember at all, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and choose the middle one to go in.

Rod wanted to slap himself. He'd been so impulsive, touching her like that. He knew he had to be calmer next time.

After walking for a while and turning a corner, Rod discovered light in the road ahead.

This must be the way out of the cave; the light is shining in from outside the cave. Rhodes was overjoyed.

As they continued walking, they discovered that the light was not from the sun shining in from outside, but from torches lit on the wall.

Rod clearly remembered that there were no torches lit on the walls when he arrived. This road might lead to the bandits' location, and he should hurry back.

He had just turned around when he saw a figure holding a giant sword.

Rhodes was startled and gripped the long-handled woodcutter's axe tightly, preparing for battle.

The man wielding the greatsword slowly walked towards Rhodes. The firelight illuminated the man's face, and Rhodes was startled when he saw the man's face clearly.

A gaunt face, dry, yellow hair, bulging blue eyes, and a skeletal frame.

This is not a living person, it is a ghoul, Rhodes judged based on his memory.

In the Kingdom of Nord, people who die can easily "come back to life." What comes back to life are just corpses, without memories or souls. They are called ghouls, and ghouls will actively attack living creatures.

Ghouls don't feel pain, and they retain a large part of their fighting spirit from when they were alive, making them very difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, ghouls are generally much weaker than they were before they died, otherwise Nord would have been destroyed long ago.

However, due to their beliefs, Nords cannot be cremated, unless they are Nords who have become vampires.

The Nords believe that after a heroic death, the brave are protected by the Holy Spirit August and gain eternal life in Valhalla, where they can enjoy delicious food, wine, and battle every day.

Those who are burned to death or whose bodies are burned after death will be cursed by the dragon god Pasnak, and will be scorched by flames for all eternity until the end of the world.

In Nord, the wealthy and powerful build grand tombs to imprison their corpses.

Many of these individuals even meticulously constructed their tombs as labyrinths, bringing their treasures and martial arts skills into them. They also left clues for their descendants to find their tombs after a long search. Only by solving the labyrinth they left behind and defeating their deceased selves could they take away their wealth and legacy.

The kings and nobles of the Kingdom of Nord also encouraged adventurers to explore the tombs of the dead. There was even a Nord king who declared that if someone could bring out the weapons he had placed in his tomb after his death, then the king at that time had to appoint that person as Hand of the King.

When those who are penniless die, their bodies are usually placed in the catacombs of the Hall of the Dead in nearby cities and guarded by specialized gravediggers. The gravediggers of the Hall of the Dead in various places also often hire adventurers to help them deal with the ghouls that have "come back to life" in the catacombs.

Rhodes looked at the ghoul in front of him, feeling extremely nervous. This was his first battle in this world.

Although he had fought with others before transmigrating, he knew very well that no matter how many harsh words others said, or even if he begged others to kill him, they would never actually kill him.

His battle with this ghoul would definitely end in a fight to the death—no, the ghoul on the other side is already dead.

Rhodes planned to wait until the ghoul was within his reach before making his move. He estimated that his axe was longer than the greatsword opposite him, and couldn't help but think that although the weapon looked rubbish, it was actually quite practical.

The ghoul dragged its greatsword and approached Rhodes step by step. Rhodes raised his woodcutter's axe and began to charge up. Just as the ghoul reached a point where Rhodes could attack, he swung his axe and precisely beheaded the ghoul.

Its head fell to the ground, rolled several times before stopping, and there wasn't a trace of blood left on the ground or on the axe.

I think I retained some of the original owner's fighting instincts; the first time I used an axe to chop someone, I didn't even miss.

This ghoul is even weaker than me. The ghouls he's encountered before could charge and block, but this one can only walk slowly. Rhodes felt a little relieved.

Even after being beheaded, the ghoul remained standing in place. Rhodes touched the ghoul's body with his axe, and the ghoul fell to the ground with a "bang," its greatsword also crashing to the ground with a "clang."

Then there was another loud "bang," and a row of iron rods emerged from the ground in front of Rhodes, right where he had come from, and went all the way to the top of the cave before stopping and blocking his way.

Rhodes was speechless. It must have been that the ghoul's corpse or its weapon had hit a button on the ground after it died, triggering a mechanism that blocked his way.

He swung his axe at the row of iron bars in front of him. His hand went numb from the impact. The iron bars in front of him only left a white mark, but his axe was chipped.

Rhodes picked up the ghoul's greatsword from the ground and slammed it down on the iron bar, producing a crisp "crack" sound.

The incredibly powerful, jet-black greatsword in his hand snapped in two...

Why did I have to touch it again?

Why not just let it die standing up?

Rhodes felt a pang of regret. He dared not continue hacking at the iron bar blocking his path with his axe. The ghoul's greatsword broke when he struck it, and his axe chipped a gash in the bar. If he continued hacking and broke his axe before he could get out, he would be left without a weapon, and if he encountered other dangers, he would be in serious trouble.

With his way back blocked, Rod could only continue walking forward along the passage, but after a few steps he turned back.

It seemed there was something important he hadn't done, and Rod realized it was looting the corpse.

Suppressing his nausea, Rhodes reached out and began to examine the ghoul for anything valuable. Although the ghoul didn't smell bad, its hideous appearance was still somewhat disgusting.

Rhodes found a silver necklace inlaid with amethyst on the ghoul. Necklaces like this usually have magical effects that can enhance combat power, but he doesn't know the type of magic and doesn't know what magical effects this necklace has.

He dared not wear the necklace before it was appraised. If it were cursed, he would be in big trouble. Besides, the necklace had just been taken off a dead person and hadn't been washed yet. Who knew if it contained germs?

Rhodes wrapped the necklace in a piece of animal hide and put it in his bag, preparing to go out and have it appraised. If it had any magical enhancements, he would keep it; if it was useless, he could sell it as jewelry for a sum of money.

Rod continued walking forward with his axe in hand, wondering why there were still ghouls in the bandits' lair. Shouldn't they have been wiped out long ago if there were?

Not long after, he stopped in front of a tightly closed wooden door. He gently pushed the door with his axe, but the door did not respond.

Then, he placed his hand on the wooden door and pushed it hard, but the door remained unmoved.

Rod looked at the wooden door and pondered for a moment, then reached out and grasped the handle, gently pulling the door open.

Behind the wooden door is a room; standing outside the door, you can only see a stone table.

Luckily no one saw it just now, how embarrassing, Rod thought, looking at the wooden door.

After opening the wooden door, Rod carefully checked the ground behind it to make sure there were no traps before tiptoeing into the room.

Then, by the light from the torch in his hand, Rhodes saw a series of strange murals on the wall directly in front of him.

The dimly lit room and the eerie murals were just like in a horror movie. Following the usual horror movie tropes, since I didn't encounter the door-opening murder just now, there must be some other trick waiting for me.

Rhodes suddenly turned around and was startled by what was behind him...