Deeper inside the cave was an iron double door. Even from a distance, Ed could feel the powerful enchantment covering the door. The only possible reason an iron door that ancient wouldn't have any rust on it was magic. There were carvings and symbols along the cave wall up to the door. He would love to study these ancient symbols someday.

"Light your torch!" Theo told him as he opened the door.

"[Candle Flame]." A small fire appeared in Ed's hand and used it to light his torch.

The double creaked open, creating a scary sound that sent chills down Ed's spine. Cold air and ominous feeling began to pour out from the tomb. It was the sense of dread and death.

"Let's go." Theo led the way to a spiral staircase leading downward.

Skulls littered the wall along with spider webs and eggs. Decayed wood and rusted iron jutted out from the wall. "This place gives me the chill, but seeing you walk-in without any hesitation like that kind of break the mood," Ed commented. His hand was visibly shaking no matter how hard he tried to hold it back.

"Well, I've completed this dungeon three times already. The first time I went in I was also hesitant.... Just kidding. I'm not a pussy like you Ed. I've killed a few ghosts before, no reason for me to get scared."

"Thanks."

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they were greeted with a large open hall. The ceiling was curved with a chandelier hanging from it. In the middle of the room, a stone dining table surrounded by stone chairs."Walk there. I stay here." Theo said.

Ed nodded and walked toward the table. Plates and tankards were placed neatly on the table as if the owner of the place was still expecting a guest.

'Why is there a dining room in a tomb?' Ed asked inside his head. As soon as he touched one of the plates, bones that were scattered on the floor began to rumble and moved to one point. The bones stuck together and coalesced into a full skeleton.

"[Fire Arrow]!" An arrow of fire shot out from his hand and hit the skeleton chest, but it did nothing. The skeleton jumped from the table and scratched him, but he easily moved out of the way.

"Remember what a skeleton resistant to? Elemental magic. Weak to? Pure magic." Theo said as he watched Ed getting trouble from a level 1 skeleton.

"[Arcane bolt]!" Ed extended his arm and a bolt of pure magic formed in his hand. It flew and slammed the skeleton, shattering its fragile bone. After the first one had been dealt with, the other two skeletons on the far end of the room began to move. He dispatched them without much effort with his magic bolts.

"That.. Was surprisingly easy," Ed said.

Theo walked near Ed from the back of the room. "That is a level one skeleton. What are you expecting? Let's go to the next room." Theo observed Ed. His hand wasn't shaking as furiously as before.

The door at the end of the room led to a long but narrow hallway. Five coffins lined on the wall. Theo knocked on the nearest coffin. "This one is going to open when we walk over the third one. The fifth and the second will open after we dealt with the first, then after that the third and the fourth." He took a step back. "I let you deal with all of them."

Just like Theo said, when he walked past the third coffin, the first one flung open and a skeleton came out of it. He dealt with the first, second and the fifth just like before, but the third and the fourth didn't come out. "Theo, what happened?" He asked with an undercurrent of fear in his voice. He was afraid if the dungeon somehow changed since Theo last visited.

Theo burst into laughter. "God! Your scared face is funny!" He slapped his own tight. "Don't rely too much on me. Where is the fun in that?"

"You....bastard!" Ed let out a sigh of relief after he said that. Being pranked by Theo was much better than something unexpected happening.

"I am."

They breezed through the next two rooms as it was more or less filled with the same level one and two skeletons. In the room after that, a level five skeleton appeared. Ed dealt with it without that much trouble, but a few of his spells missed its mark, and his magic bolt hit the stone wall behind it, revealing another cave.

"Should we go there?" Ed asked, but a notification popped up in his head before Theo could answer.

[Hidden Ancient Tomb Discovered]

[Dungeon status changed to uncleared]

[New World Quest: Discover the secret of the hidden tomb]

[Recommended level: 7-15]

[Recommended Party Size: 3]

"Hey Theo, do you get that?" Ed asked once more.

"Get what?"

"A notification about a quest and a newly discovered tomb. It just kind of popped in my head."

A broad smile appeared on Theo's face. "A world quest."

"World quest?" Ed asked. He knew the name, but he couldn't place it.

"Normally a quest is given by a quest giver to someone. But if a particular person or creature does something, the one above will provide us with a quest directly. World quest is very rare and very important. It's also very rewarding."

"The one above? I recall you never believe in God."

"I do believe in higher power, but not the one that they teach you at the church of Ketu." He walked to the newly made hole in the wall. "We can save the discussion of theology for later. I'm more interested in exploring this place."

"You've never seen this before?"

"No. What is the new quest that you get?" Ed tried to summon the notification in his head again. After a few second of concentration, the same notification from before appeared.

"Discover the secret of the hidden tomb. Level seven to fifteen."

Theo unsheathed his sword. "Stay behind me and cover my back. It's not a quest you could complete at your level. We'll finish it together."

Excitement filled Theo's heart. It had been a long time since he was given the opportunity to explore a new dungeon, not to mention his best friend got a world quest, something that no normal person would ever get in their life. He couldn't help but show his wide grin.

Ed himself, however, didn't feel all that too excited. As easy as dealing with those skeletons looked, it still used a lot of his stamina and mana, especially since he was still not used to using magic. He wanted to take a quick rest, but seeing Theo's excited face made him feel bad for wanting to rest.They crouched down and crawled on all four to continue the dungeon, and it was worse for him since he has to carry a torch. After a seemingly eternity, a light came from their front.

Their hard work of crawling paid off after seeing the marvel in front of them. Huge cave lined with light emitting crystal.

The light coming from the crystal was reflected by an underground lake, giving it a beautiful, otherworldly sparkle. The thick and repulsive air of the tomb was no more, replaced by a cold and refreshing air.

"Wow!" They both lost their word at such wonder. "We.. can rest here for a while." Said Theo without averting his gaze from the lake. "You must be tired after fighting all those skeletons."

"That's a good idea." Ed nodded his head.

They sat on one of the bigger rocks there. They ate and drank while enjoying the view. After Ed finished his meal, he walked to the edge of the water to drink it. It wasn't as if he need to drink from the lake, he was just curious how the water would taste. The water was freezing, colder than river water or well water during winter. He coughed out the water, not expecting it to be that cold.

Not even ten seconds after he drank the water, he saw a shadow in the lake creeping over to him.

The water sprouted as something leaped out of the water at him. The creature was bigger than him with scale covering its body and lizard-like feature.

Ed fell on his back, surprised by the lizard. He reflexively covered his face with both arms crossed in front of him. Before the lizard could take a bite, Theo kicked it right in the gut before strangling it from behind and pinning the lizard to the ground.

"What are you waiting for?! Kill it!" Theo shouted.

"[Fire Arrow]!" A fire arrow shot from Ed's hand and burned the lizard head.

The lizard screeched in agony and struggled hard to escape from Theo pinning, but it was futile. A second fire arrow scorched its face before the third one killed it.

Theo let go of the lifeless lizard body after confirming that it was completely dead. "Why didn't you just kill it?" Ed asked, unsure why Theo had to pin it down.

"If I kill it by myself you won't get EXP, which would defeat our purpose coming here in the first place."

Ed stood up and inspected the lizard body. Its head was completely scorched along with whatever inside it. He knew his spell was still weak, but three arrows straight to the head before dying, how high was that lizard-men level for it to be that strong?

The lizard left a deep claw mark on the stone as it struggled to escape. If Theo had been late even for a second, who know what would happen to him, even an iron armor wouldn't help him in that situation.

"Just like a rose, beauty hiding a thorn. Let's go, I rather not wait for another of that creature to show up." Theo spoke while offering his hand. Unlike Ed, there wasn't even a hint of panic and fear in his face, but a broad smile full of excitement.