Swords, magic, and martial arts

Rhodes was falling from his throne when he received a notification that the mission was complete while he was still in mid-air.

The throne didn't fall very fast, which startled Rhodes at first, but then the speed became constant, similar to the elevator he rode before his transmigration. It must have been controlled by some kind of magical mechanism.

After about ten seconds, the throne came to a stop as it was pulled by the steel cable attached to its base.

Pulled by the steel cable, the throne flipped over, and Rhodes fell face-first to the ground.

Fortunately, the throne wasn't very high off the ground in the end, only about half a meter.

Rod rubbed his face and sat up from the ground; the fall had left him somewhat dazed.

He looked up and found Baron and the others staring at him.

"Didn't you go back? How come you're here again?" Baron asked, panting, as he sat on the ground.

"I got lost on my way back, entered an ancient Nord tomb, and ended up here," Rhodes said as he began to observe his surroundings.

"I'm glad you're alright." Baron nodded.

Beside Baron, Otto, a merchant from the Kingdom of Fish, lay on the ground, his body charred black, split in two with only a few bits of flesh still attached.

Not far away, "Warhammer" Hammer lay on the ground, clenching his teeth, his chest heaving violently. There was a huge wound on his thigh, and "Viper" Webber was squatting on the ground, scraping away the rotten flesh from the wound and stopping the bleeding.

The floor of the room was littered with mutilated corpses and weapons, and Rhodes found the head of "Quickhand" Sam among the remains.

Seeing such a bloody and gruesome scene for the first time made Rhodes feel nauseous.

"What happened here?" Rod asked, suppressing his nausea.

"Don't even mention it. That Otto is a real bastard. He's not a businessman at all. He didn't come to us to steal back the goods or to get revenge on the bandits. The ten gold coins commission per person is a lie," Baron said.

"What for?" Rod asked again.

"He's an evil necromancer who lured us to his lair to turn us into his experimental subjects," Baron said.

"Then why choose adventurers like us? Wouldn't it be easier to deal with ordinary civilians?" Rhodes asked, puzzled.

"No one would care if adventurers like us died out there, but if ordinary citizens with family and friends went missing, many people would search for them. And that necromancer said he needed some powerful humans for research, especially those with special abilities like Baron," Weber explained as he stood up after bandaging Warhammer's wounds, his face filled with undisguised sorrow.

"You have no idea what a terrifying ordeal we just went through! Fifty-odd powerful ghouls were controlled by that bastard and attacked us from all sides. Plus, those ghouls' weapons were coated with poison. Hammer got hit, and the spot where he was struck started to rot. But thanks to my immense strength, I turned the tide and, at the last moment, cleaved that bastard in two with a single axe strike." Baron boasted to Rhodes with great enthusiasm.

Rhodes had just roughly counted them, and there were definitely no more than thirty ghouls on the ground. However, it was truly remarkable that they could survive in such a situation.

The ghouls vary in strength depending on their strength in life. The ones Rhodes encountered before were weak, while those he fought with Baron and the others appeared to be much stronger.

"The scene was indeed very dangerous, but if that necromancer hadn't lost his mind and pulled out a dagger to join the battle, we might all be dead. It's just a pity about Sam; he was a good kid, and I promised his father I would take good care of him," Webber said.

Rhodes never expected that Webber, who seemed so sinister and liked to coat his weapons with poison, was actually a good person.

He said the necromancer suddenly lost his mind, and perhaps he picked up the "Bane of the Wise" and was no longer affected by it, so its effects transferred to the necromancer, indirectly saving them. But then again, whose head has the "Bane of the Wise" effect transferred to now?

"You all should leave now. I feel like I can't hold on any longer. Don't worry about me. I don't want to be a burden to you anymore. After I die, remember to tell the woman who owns the florist that I love her and tell her not to wait for me." Warhammer said weakly as he lay on the ground.

"What nonsense are you talking about? It's just a cut on your thigh, no blood vessels were damaged, and I already cured you of the poison, didn't I? The florist's wife is already married, when has she ever waited for you?" Weber said angrily.

It seems the effects of "The Wise Man's Calamity" have shifted to Hammer. Should I explain this to them? But if I do, I won't know how to remove the effect. Maybe I should just keep quiet.

"Do you have a way out, Weber?" Baron asked.

"Not for now. That stone door requires a specific kind of magic to control its opening and closing, and the necromancer is dead. We're not very proficient in magic either," Webber replied.

The door to the outside of this room was blocked by a stone, and the room was surrounded by hard rock walls.

"I know a way out. Follow me," Rod said.

The initial entrance to that tomb was blocked by a row of iron bars, which he couldn't cut through himself. Baron's strength should be able to, so Rod decided to take them out from there and try.

After Rhodes finished speaking, he climbed up the iron chain that held the throne. The chain was thick enough to support so many people climbing up at the same time.

Baron carried Hammer, who had fallen to the ground, and followed Rod as they climbed up.

"Viper" Webber took out a piece of cloth, wrapped Sam's head in it, and put it inside his clothes. Then, he picked up Hammer's warhammer and climbed up the iron chain.

Climbing dozens of meters vertically up a steel cable was something Rod couldn't have done before he crossed it. Now, he climbed it in one go and was only slightly out of breath.

Baron, who carried a strong man weighing over 200 pounds up the mountain, wasn't even out of breath.

"I didn't expect that the necromancer didn't even notice the tomb on his head. Now, which way should we go?" Baron said to Rhodes.

"Come with me," Rod said.

……

After several tens of minutes, Rod led the group to the iron railing that had previously blocked his way.

"Cut this off, and we can get out," Rod said.

"You all step back a bit," Baron said, picking up his giant axe and stepping forward.

Baron swung the axe horizontally with all his might, and the axe struck the railing with a loud bang. Rhodes immediately covered his ears.

Baron tried his best but only managed to leave a mark on the railing, while a piece of his steel axe blade chipped off.

"This is troublesome. This railing is made of ebony. If we don't find another way out, we might be trapped here and die," Baron said with a serious expression.

Somewhat unwillingly, Rhodes stepped forward, took out "The Wise Man's Calamity," and slashed at the railing.

Before the "Wise Man's Calamity" could even strike the railing, it automatically retracted into the ground.

Rod felt a slap on the back of his head, and when he turned around, he saw it was Baron.

"Are you kidding me?" Baron said, somewhat angrily.

"I found this sword in this tomb, and I had no idea it would turn out this way," Rhodes explained.

"Stop talking nonsense, let's go back quickly, Hammer needs a better environment to rest," Weber said.

Baron didn't continue scolding Rod; he picked up Hammer and walked outside.

Not long after they reached the main road, they saw a caravan passing by. They had seven or eight carriages and a dozen or so guards.

"Hey! Bro! Can you give us a ride?" Baron shouted.

It was already dark when the caravan heard such a loud shout from the roadside. At first, they thought it was a robbery.

Baron pushed Rod out to go with him to communicate with the people. Baron usually took Rod with him when they needed help because Rod had a kind face, and Baron himself knew that he could easily scare people.

"One of our companions is injured, and we want to get back to Icestone City as soon as possible. We hope you can give us a ride; we can pay you," Baron said.

The caravan's representative, a Nord with a large beard, nodded and said, "We don't need you to pay us. We just want to be friends with you. I'll make the arrangements for you right now."

Soon, Rod and Baron were put on an open-top oxcart.

"I'm sorry, we have a lot of cargo and there's not much room. Please make do here. If you need anything, you can find me in the second car from the front. My name is Daniel," said the bearded Nord.

"No, no, thank you so much. It's enough for us to ride back. When we get to Icestone City, I'll treat you to a drink. My name is Baron, it's nice to meet you," Baron said.

"Alright, I'll wait for you to invite me." Daniel laughed heartily. "I have something to do, so I'll be going now." With that, Daniel left.

Rhodes noticed a luxurious carriage in the caravan that stood out from the other convertibles.

"It's really strange that there are still caravans operating on winter nights, Rhodes. Do you think we've forgotten something?" Baron asked.

"Perhaps because we're close to the city, the caravan decided to travel a little further and spend the night in the city. Did you check the necromancer for anything valuable?" Rhodes asked after thinking for a moment.

"Never mind, I'll come back another time." Baron said, and then snoring started coming from his seat.

It was a long day. Baron reminded Rod that he had completed the task but hadn't drawn the prize yet.

Rod opened the system panel and started the lottery. A user interface that only he could see appeared in front of him.

The lottery uses a spinning wheel with many types of rewards. Martial arts skills only take up a small portion of the wheel, indicating that they are still difficult to obtain through completing tasks and participating in the lottery. However, the system is relatively generous, as there are no "thank you for your patronage" messages.

Rhodes pressed the lottery button, and the pointer of the wheel began to spin. After an exciting five seconds, the wheel finally stopped at the pill category.

The system rewarded Rhodes with a bottle of medicine called Advanced Healing Medicine...

Advanced wound medicine: It is much more effective than ordinary wound medicine. One bottle can be used for three treatments. It can reduce inflammation, relieve pain, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. It is the best choice after you have been beaten.

Rhodes stared blankly at the instructions for the advanced wound medicine for a while. It didn't explain exactly how good the effects were, so it seemed he would only know after using it.

It hadn't even been a week since Rhodes last received a mission, and he couldn't get a new one either. He decided to go back and relax for a few days.

However, considering his own combat strength, he decided he couldn't be a pushover. He would go back and take more beatings to level up his Iron Shirt skill so he would feel safer on his next adventure.

Wait, why should I continue being an adventurer?

Why not retire and farm, raise pigs? Maybe you can get rich through farming and live a life of luxury.

Let's treat these as small goals for now, and decide what to do when we've earned enough money to buy land and pigs.

Also, why did the owner of the tomb and his friend keep walking north when they wanted to enter the tomb?

As Rhodes pondered this, he soon drifted off to sleep...