Octavius read and reread the message. He had yet to find even a hint of evidence that anyone was in the tutorial instance before the tutorial started, but it seemed that someone was here before. The message seemed to designate the catacombs as a new area. On top of the requirements to enter, that fact made him think that this might be similar to a dungeon in the video games he used to play.

Assuming he was correct, he was left with a decision to make. Dungeons were usually filled with difficult encounters and contained the best rewards. He had been looking for more difficult opponents, but now he didn’t have a spear. Could he beat the dungeon with a knife as his only weapon? He wasn’t sure. After a minute’s consideration, he decided that the dungeon was his best chance to level up and maybe even get out of the cave he was trapped in. He mentally pressed, “Yes.”

After a moment of unsettling silence, the stone doors began to shake. Then a pinprick of golden light burst into existence in the center of the doorway. The light spread, filling in the complex patterns and carved knots on the door. The grinding sound of stone on stone echoed through the cave system as the doors began to swing inwards.

Inside, a rough cave the size of the doors extended into the darkness. Octavius frowned at the darkness. He only had one chem light that he brought with him, but this seemed like as good a time as any to use it. He slung his damp rucksack onto the ground in front of him and pulled the chem light from a side pocket.

The chem light was a plastic tube, maybe six inches long and a half-inch in diameter. He cracked it and shook it violently. Soon, a yellow-green glow was illuminating the cave.

Octavius walked forward, holding the chem light out and in front of him. He drew his knife from his plate carrier just in case. As he walked, he noticed that the rough walls held carvings in patterns of knots, similar to those on the axe held by the statue and the door. Octavius wondered if it was some form of written language. As he walked, he began to wonder if there was a quest involved with the dungeon. In most dungeons in the games he’d played, the player had to complete objectives before progressing. As if his thoughts summoned it, a blue screen appeared in front of his face.

The Lost Catacombs

Objectives:

-Rid the sacred burial site of all dark creatures that inhabit it

-????

-????

Octavius frowned. He was expecting something along the lines of the first objective, but he didn’t like having unknown objectives. All of his military training screamed at him that he needed more intelligence, that he shouldn’t have even entered the dungeon, but it was too late to turn back now.

He continued down the tunnel until he found an intersection. The tunnel continued forward, but there was an empty doorway on his left side. He cautiously approached the doorway. He knew that there were hostiles within the dungeon and thus readied his knife. He placed his back against the wall next to the doorway and got ready. He counted down in his head before throwing his chem light into the new room. He figured that the light might blind anything entirely accustomed to the darkness. A second later, he quickly followed it with his knife ready.

As he rounded the corner, he scanned the room. It was relatively small and had a round shape. In the middle of the room was a rectangular stone coffin, lit by the chem light's yellow-green glow. The lid held a carving of a short and muscular man with a long beard, a likely member of the ancient race that built the catacombs. He had already started referring to them as dwarves in his own head.

While the coffin was interesting, what really caught Octavius’s attention was the black and purple creature screaming silently in the corner. It was tall and lanky. The creature appeared to be partially incorporeal, made of swirling gas. It was shielding its face from the chem light, so Octavius chose to attack while it was unaware. As he ran at the creature, he used identify it.

Uncommon Penumbral Apparition (Lvl 17)

Before the apparition could react, Octavius was upon it. He stabbed out with his knife, ready to cut through its throat. When his knife made contact with its throat, however, it failed to find resistance. Unprepared for the unexpected situation, Octavius stumbled through the apparition, trying to recover his balance.

When he did recover, he spun to face the apparition again. Only this time, the apparition was looking directly at him. Its face seemed to be constantly shifting, sometimes having a large nose, sometimes a small one. Its bone structure changed from delicate to hard and angled before switching back again. The one thing that the face always had was an expression of pure rage.

It rushed him with supernatural speed, reaching out to grab him. Octavius ducked to the left, and the creature swung its arm in response. The arm brushed his shoulder, sending him reeling. He quickly recovered and moved to its side, slicing with his knife in two quick cuts. Except just like before, the blade passed through the apparition like it was air.

Octavius did now know what to do. He didn’t seem to have a weapon that could hurt the apparition, Wait, that’s not true. The light seemed to hurt it.

Octavius gave up on attacking and began to retreat towards the chem light, dancing between wild swings from the apparition. When he got within a half dozen feet on the chem light, the apparition charged him again. Octavius danced out of the way of the grab again, but this time the apparition was ready. It swung its arm and hit Octavius squarely in the chest.

He flew across the room and slammed his back into the lid of the stone coffin. His vision blacked out for a moment as his lower back exploded in agony. Liquid fire raced up his spine as he groaned softly. He tried to roll over, only for a spike of pain to shoot up his back, threatening to knock him unconscious, and legs failed even to move. Fuck, that hurts! He inwardly screamed.

He tracked the apparition with his eyes as it approached. He needed to do something. He looked around desperately, and his eyes laid upon the coffin lid he was on. It was knocked partially off the coffin from the force of his body hitting it. He could hide inside the coffin and drink a health potion.

He forced himself to roll to his left, biting back a scream of pure agony. He slipped over the edge of the lid and into the coffin. His vision seemed to explode into fireworks. His eyes widened when he heard the coffin’s lid crash to the ground now that it was no longer balance by his weight. He had to do something. Anything.

The apparition entered his field of view and reached for him with one gaseous hand. His own hands scrambled over the inside of the coffin, desperately searching for anything that could help him and ignoring the burning pain in his back. The hand came closer and closer when his own hand cut itself on something sharp on the skeleton below and beside him. He reached desperately for it, and once he held it, he swung it wildly at the apparition’s hand.

He watched in disbelief as a silvery glowing knife severed three of the apparition's fingers, and it screamed. It sounded like the wails of hundreds combined into a single voice. When the apparition took a step back, he threw the knife with all the power his one arm could impart it from a supine position. The silver dagger entered the apparition’s chest and seemed to hover in mid-air as the apparition froze. It faded in and out of existence for a second before exploding into a thin cloud of black and purple mist.

You have killed Uncommon Penumbral Apparition (Lvl 17) and gained 2125 EXP (1/4)(17)(2)(2)(1.25)(100)

The sound of the dagger clattering to the floor snapped Octavius to his senses, and he reached into his belt pouch and removed a red potion and downed it in a single gulp. He screamed when his spine knit back together, but it was over in a moment.

After it was over, he laid in the coffin for a minute, breathing deeply. Then, he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the coffin. He stood and approached the dagger.

Soulsilver Dagger (Uncommon) - A dagger of Soulsilver. It can be infused with the mana of the wielder, making it one of the only known physical weapons that can harm beings of pure mana. Cost (5 mana/minute)

After he read the description, he looked at his mana. He saw that it had decreased by two. His back tingled with phantom pain, but he ignored it. He knew he was now at full health, so the pain was psychosomatic. As the dagger caught the light of the chem light that laid on the floor, he took a moment to inspect it.

On the floor, it was indistinguishable from a steel blade. The blade was leaf-shaped and a bit under eight inches. Even after however long it was in the coffin, it was still razor-sharp. There wasn’t any corrosion on the metal of the blade, nor on the oval-shaped guard. Running down the center of the blade and along the guard were carvings of the knots he had speculated to be some form of written language. There was little left of the handle, merely an exposed tang that led to a pommel of the same metal.

He bent over and grabbed the blade. The moment his hand closed around the tang, it seemed to light up. He felt a slight tug from his chest that ran down his right arm and into the dagger. As his energy entered the dagger, it glowed a soft white. Milky white clouds seemed to swirl along the length of the blade.

Octavius thought for a moment before removing his last roll of paracord from his rucksack and using a portion of it to wrap the exposed tang of the dagger. Once he was done, he tied a loop onto his belt and let the dagger hang from it.

He stood from his kneeling position and looked around. The black smoke that came from the vanquished apparition had all but disappeared. He scooped up the chem light and walked over to the tomb he took the knife from.

Inside the coffin, there was a humanoid skeleton. It was covered with what little remained of its clothes. The pieces of metal that were part of its outfit remained, but little else. Its hands were clasped in front of its chest. It probably once held the knife there.

Octavius looked over the remains before nodding to it, “Sorry about taking your knife, but who knows how many of those apparitions there are left. May you find peace in whatever afterlife you believe in.”

He wasn’t religious back on Earth, but if there was magic and some strange system that controlled everything, who was to say there wasn’t a real afterlife.

He circled the coffin until he came to the other side. The lid of the coffin was leaned against the coffin’s side. Octavius took off his rucksack and bent his knees. He snaked his fingers under the stone lid. He paused for a moment before lifting with his legs. He grunted from exertion, but the stone lid began to lift.

As he lifted, he pushed forward. The higher the lid was off the ground, the more of its weight was supported by the coffin itself rather than Octavius. With one final push, he heaved the lid into place.

After he was done, he chuckled as he panted. He wasn’t sure how much weight he had just lifted, but it was definitely a personal record.

He made his way to the entrance to the main tunnel before pausing. It had been many hours of exertion since he last ate, and wanted to be on the top of his game. He placed his chem light in the doorway, hoping it would deter any apparitions from entering, and moved to the far wall.

He opened his rucksack and pulled out an MRE. Menu 20 - Sausage, peppers, and onions. He set up the flameless ration heater and started the cooking process. He ate the parts of the meal that didn’t need to be heated and drank sparingly from his water bladder. After he was done eating, he packed all of the trash into the MRE’s original packaging and placed that into his rucksack. It didn’t seem right to leave trash at someone’s gravesite, especially after stealing from the grave.

He exited the room, picking up the chem light on the way out. This time, he held the Soulsilver dagger instead of his own combat knife. He made his way down the tunnel with light footsteps—the steady glow of the chem light illuminating the cave wall a green color. A hundred or so steps later, he came across another doorway.

This time, he knew what to expect. He threw the chem light into the doorway and charged in, dagger at the ready. This room was near identical to the one before, except that the coffin in this room had a different dwarf carved into it. The largest difference, however, was the absence of any other creature besides himself.

He slowed himself and looked into the room. After a closer inspection, he realized that the coffin’s lid was not fully covering the opening of the coffin. He approached and looked inside.

This dwarf's remains were in significantly worse condition. In the other coffin, the cloth and soft tissues had decayed to nothing; the metal and bone were pristine. On the other hand, in this coffin, not only were the soft tissues and clothing entirely gone, the bones were stained a yellow color and pitted in many places. Where the body’s skeletal fingers met in the middle of its chest, there was nothing. The only evidence of whatever the skeleton once held was the axehead on its sternum. It was the same Soulsilver as his dagger, except this axehead was in poor condition. Its carvings were worn and nearly flush with the body of the axehead, and the edge of the blade was obviously dull.

He decided to leave the axehead and moved to push the coffin closed. After the lid fell into place, he inspected the carving of the dwarf inside. This dwarf was scarred, with a large nose and a scowling expression.

He made sure that there wasn’t anything else he needed to do in the room before picking up the chem light and continuing down the main tunnel. Over the next half hour, he found a dozen other rooms. Every room contained a coffin, and every coffin was opened. Within every coffin was a weapon. In the rooms where the coffin was only slightly open, the weapons were in good condition.

He had found a hammerhead, a few other axe heads, two more knives. It was a difficult decision, but he ended up leaving all of them behind as the knife from the first room was well and above in the best condition. Not to mention grave robbing extra knives just to have them didn't sit right with him, he already had a knife and now a dagger as well.

The one thing he had taken with him was a spear blade he'd found in one of the last coffins. The socket where it would connect to a handle was warped and the blade was as dull as a butter knife, not to mention pitted all across its face. The wooden handle that had once accompanied it had long rotted away, but taking it was an easy decision. It could mean the difference between life and death once he exited the dungeon and fashioned a new handle for it.

He had found another three of the penumbral apparitions and was able to dispatch them all. While he had the element of surprise and knowledge of their capabilities, it was not difficult to combat them. He had only suffered one injury, a large bruise on his left arm from when the second apparition was able to recover enough from the chem light to attack before he killed it.

He smiled as he made his way down the tunnel. He was at 19998/40000 EXP, nearly halfway to level 10. When he was a few hundred feet past the closest room, the tunnel changed. It split into three paths. One continued the way he had been going, while one veered right, and the other veered left. He stood at the intersection of a moment before choosing to go left. He turned slightly and continued his walk, wondering how far the catacombs went on for.