Swords, magic, and martial arts

The adventurers all found a wooden door and went inside, leaving only two wooden doors for Rhodes and his two companions.

"What should we do?" Aya was so saddened by the sight of only two wooden doors that she was about to cry.

Rhodes was pondering how the mechanism determined that someone had stepped on it; he didn't notice any difference in the material of the floorboards compared to the ones they were currently standing on.

Could it be due to weight? Rhodes considered this possibility.

The mechanism in the floor uses weight to determine the number of people, which may be somewhat inaccurate, but it is the easiest method to implement. It's impossible to scan for the number of souls on the floor.

Such a complex magic circle might be used in a marquis's tomb, but it's impossible to build more than eighty of them, because the materials for setting up the magic circle are too expensive. The Foss family, known for its wisdom in the Kingdom of Nord, would not do something so wasteful.

"Ella, wait a moment before going in. I'll carry Aya to the door and try to get in," Rhodes said.

"Okay, but I need to go inside later," Ella said.

"You can choose which door you want to go through. She and I will go through the other door, but don't go in yet. Wait until we've tried it out before you go in," Rhodes said.

Rhodes could only gamble that the Nords hadn't considered children when they built the tomb. At over 160 pounds, he was considered very light among Nord adventurers, and Aya was only about 70 pounds. The two of them combined didn't even weigh as much as Baron. If they were to judge how many people were on top based on weight or footprints, Rhodes and his companions would definitely be able to get away with it.

Rhodes wanted to carry Aya on his back. At first, Aya was a little shy and hesitant, but she eventually agreed. Rhodes prayed to all the gods and Buddhas that they would be able to get in.

After he stepped onto the circle, a white light curtain rose from the crack next to the circle, and the floor began to slowly rotate. Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief, and Aya on his back waved goodbye to Ella, who waved back.

It was pitch black behind the door, and Rod, who had come from the fairly bright hall, was not used to it. However, he did not have any torches or anything like that with him. His bag only contained some water and food.

Rhodes had a slight fear of tombs, after all, many legends described the ancient Nord tombs as extremely dangerous. Although he had been inside one before, it was an unfinished one, and the monsters inside were either dead or did more harm than good.

"Aren't you going to put me down?" Aya on his back reminded him.

Rhodes was a little embarrassed and quickly put Aya off his back, but she still clung tightly to him out of fear.

There was no light at all, it was pitch black, which made Rhodes feel a sense of déjà vu, as if he had dreamed about it before.

But then he remembered that he had dreamt several times of being trapped in a pitch-black place, and a cold sweat broke out in his mouth. Could it be that all those dreams were warning me? Could today be my death day?

Rhodes took a few deep breaths, realizing that fear was useless and that it was better to be cautious. He used a mageball, which could not see through the darkness with the naked eye, but could with mental power.

This is a long passage with some simple traps such as bear traps and tripwires on the ground.

"I'll carry you on my back. There are a lot of traps on the ground, and you might accidentally step on one," Rod said to Aya beside him.

Aya hesitated for a moment, then climbed onto Rod's back herself.

Rhodes carried Aya around one trap after another, stopping from time to time to use his magic orb to observe his surroundings. After exhausting his magic power in the last battle against the boar, his total magic power had actually increased, allowing him to easily lift and drop the adventurer.

The passage wasn't long; he reached the end in less than five minutes. Now, in front of Rhodes was an underground river. The water wasn't swift. He put Aya down and used a magic orb to carefully observe the river's depth. Water had a barrier effect on mental energy, so he couldn't reach the bottom at all.

He pondered how to determine the water's depth. "I can't swim," Aya's words interrupted Rod's thoughts.

"Then I'll carry you across." Rhodes thought for a moment and decided that no matter how deep the water was, he would carry her across, so he stopped hesitating.

Rhodes took off his deerskin clothes and put his boots back in his system space, leaving him only in his underwear.

Any item produced by the system can be placed into the system space, which is as large as a giant warehouse.

Although it's spring now, the temperature hasn't risen quickly, and the river water must still be very cold. It would definitely be uncomfortable to wear soaking wet clothes later.

Rod decided to go into the water to try it out and found that the water was indeed very cold, but it only went up to his knees, so he quietly put his shirt back on.

He carried Aya into the cold underground river. He felt many small fish swimming around him, seemingly biting him constantly, giving him a tingling and itchy feeling.

"It's probably a piranha," he thought to himself. "But I have thick skin. Even ordinary wolves can't bite through my skin now. A piranha's mouth is so small, its bite force shouldn't be as strong as a wolf's. As long as it's not poisonous, it's fine."

A few minutes later, Rhode carried Aya to the shore. Rhode used the Wizard Ball to observe the surroundings and found no traps. He used the Wizard Ball's purplish-black light to examine his bitten legs; thankfully, the skin wasn't broken, just red from the bites.

If Aya had been allowed to walk over by himself, his legs would probably have been gnawed to the bone. He used a magic ball to make the water droplets on his legs run off, and after his legs were dry, he put on his pants and boots.

"Let's keep going," Rod said to Aya, who was skipping stones on the water.

The surroundings were completely dark. He used his magic ball to find a hole, and after confirming that there was no danger, he led Aya inside.

Glowing mushrooms are growing on the walls of the cave, and the cave is no longer almost completely dark like the previous passage.

Connecting natural caves and tombs is a unique feature of the Kingdom of Nord. It's unclear how many years this tomb has been built, but a forest has grown over it. Fortunately, you probably won't encounter anything like Frostbite Spiders inside.

About half an hour later, they left the cave and came to a large hall filled with oil lamps, where several adventurers were engaged in a fierce battle with a group of ghouls.

There were more ghouls than adventurers, and one of the ghouls was an archer, which hampered the adventurers' actions. Most importantly, the adventurers did not cooperate well, putting them at a disadvantage, and two of them were injured.

Rhodes told Aya to hide behind him. Aya gave Rhodes the short sword he had gotten from Pilt earlier. He crept over quietly and beheaded a ghoul who was shooting arrows.

Rhodes couldn't understand why the ghouls could still shoot arrows, nor did he know how they determined the enemy's location.

With the archers no longer holding them back, the adventurers were able to unleash their full power. Before Rhodes could even join the battle, a bear-like adventurer wielding a greatsword and sporting a thick beard suddenly unleashed a simple whirlwind slash, wielding it to eliminate all the remaining ghouls. He then roared and swung his greatsword, cleaving several other unsuspecting adventurers in two.

Without a word, he dragged his greatsword and charged towards Rhodes...