After my big discussion with Aurelia about the crypt…I went to sleep. I was exhausted. Mentally if not physically. Getting to bed was tough with all that energy flowing through me, but I was still determined to be well rested for my initial foray into the underground space.
Because that was what I would be doing. An initial foray. After checking with Aurelia, I had learned quite a bit about the crypt, and that included the fact that the space was MUCH bigger than expected. In fact, crypt wasn’t exactly the right word. Necropolis was closer. It was a huge underground city filled with unexplored tunnels and ruins.
Well, mostly unexplored. The drones had been doing their thing, and while they hadn’t mapped most of it, they had cleared out a certain section of the outer ring where the entrance we’d found was located.
Which, of course, led us to my current preparations. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” Ron asked worriedly. “It seems reckless.”
“It IS reckless,” I confirmed as I double checked the clip on my 1911. “But reckless is what I need. I froze up in the woods. If I’m going to be in charge of this whole operation I need to be able to operate under pressure. Which means I need to be able to function on my own. If I bring you all with me it defeats the purpose.”
I was still stinging from my poor performance in the forest. I knew that getting a little spooked under those circumstances wasn’t unexpected, but it was still disappointing for me to experience. I’d been doing so well since I got my abilities, growing and learning and expanding into this world, and then as soon as I was under real pressure I started to panic. I needed to break myself of that habit immediately.
Of course, I wasn’t insane. The outer reaches of the necropolis were fairly tame, according to Aurelia and the drone footage. I wouldn’t be in TOO much danger. We’d seen a few creatures there, but mostly just oversized moles and a few tiny goblin skeletons.
Which had been weird to see on a screen, honestly. Knowing undead existed was one thing, but seeing them in person was another. But I pushed through any nervousness. “Look, you’re all right out here,” I assured Ron, nodding to the others who had come with us, the rest of the forest team were all here, outfitted with their gear. “If I run into trouble, I’ll Barkskin and bolt. I can walkie for help and you can meet me halfway, ok?”
I tapped the walkie talkie clipped to my belt. Ron grimaced, but nodded anyway. “Yeah, and I get it,” he said after a brief wait. “Trial by fire. Sometimes you need to jump into the thick of things. I just don’t like it. Don’t forget we’re screwed if anything happens to you.”
“I haven’t,” I assured him. “I promise. I’ll be careful. I just need to do this.”
With one last comforting nod to my friends, I turned and strode off into the darkness of the nearest passage. I reached down to my belt, flipping a switch and turning on the small lantern I was carrying. This was a recent purchase when we settled on coming down here, and it only ran me twenty five bucks for a two thousand lumen light source with batteries included.
Flipping a switch on my walkie, I cleared my throat. “You guys picking me up?” I asked briskly, trying not to focus on what might happen if they weren’t. I paused as I remembered the etiquette. “Over.”
“Loud and clear,” came the crisp response. “But leave it active just in case. We don’t want to lose you. Over.”
I chuckled, glad that I wasn’t going to be bored down here with no one to talk to at least. I was just glad these walkies weren’t the kind with a push button. The knob construction was much more convenient for this kind of environment. “Alright, so remind me what I might run into?” I repeated. “I saw the footage, but only the highlights. You guys watched more of it right? How big do those moles get?”
“Oh not that big,” Cal said cheerfully. “Two hundred pounds, tops. Probably less. Or more. But not that much more.”
I heard a thump and a yelp and I grinned, knowing Sonia had just smacked Cal for me. “Thanks Sonia,” I called with a laugh. “Now, two hundred? How accurate is that, because that’s…big. Really big.”
“Sadly pretty accurate,” Ron replied apologetically. “We saw a few that size. On the upside, they seem to be pretty much blind, so the lights won’t tip them off. If they hear you talking it might be an issue though. Still, from what we saw they don’t appear to be too heavily muscled. Your rounds probably won’t have trouble penetrating.”
I chuckled nervously. “Oh good. My only real weapon probably won’t be useless.”
“Not your only weapon,” Ron reminded me. “Don’t forget the buck knife we gave you. You DO have close range options. Just remember to pop your Barkskin if you have to infight. None of us are trained to fight monsters or giant animals. And don’t engage except as an absolute last resort.”
“I know,” I assured him. “I have to say, despite the worry, I’m pretty excited. This place is HUGE. The amount of information and possibly treasure we might find down here is going to be staggering. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find a few patterns.”
Ron laughed at that. “More than that, your cousin said to keep an eye out for potions. Apparently the seals on alchemy bottles last a VERY long time. There’s a decent chance you might find something you can actually use or sell down there. Not to mention we have potential weapons, which I’m excited to see in action based on what we’ve sussed out so far. After seeing that armor I can’t wait to see what a sword can do.”
“That’s true,” I said gleefully. “Electrum is common enough around these parts, and the stuff is made to hold mana. I want to see what a legitimate blacksmith can do.” As I spoke, of course, I was hard at work inspecting the environment. My Analysis perk was putting in some serious overtime here, and I made sure to examine every single object I came across, obvious or not.
Which was what brought me up short when I was about to pass a half buried statue. “Hold up,” I said excitedly. “I found something.”
“What is it?” Cal asked with interest. “Treasure chest?”
“Better,” I told him as I knelt down, pressing my fingers around the base of the stone statue I could reach until…click. My fingers depressed, and there was a loud grinding sound as a section of the hallway started to collapse inwards, revealing the entrance to a darkened barrow.
Inching up to the entrance, I dropped to a knee, putting the lantern on the ground as I drew both my gun and my knife. Slowly, I used one foot to push the light source inside, making sure to keep both weapons handy. The inside of the chamber was cramped and made of dark stone, but didn’t look occupied. “I found some sort of burial chamber I think?” I said slowly. “Looks like there’s a coffin in here. One of those big square ones made of stone, over.”
“Wait, what?” Ron said quickly. “We don’t have anything like that on the map, over.”
“Secret passage,” I said smugly. “But I don’t see anything moving. It’s just an empty room. Sadly, there’s also no treasure chests or bags full of gold in here. Well, depending how you define a treasure chest, I guess. The coffin might count. Over.”
Ron responded immediately. “Negative. We have no information on what might be in there. Not to mention a sarcophagus that size must weigh a ton. Without some kind of pry bar or any help you’re not getting in. Mark the room and move on, over.”
“Can we stop saying over?” I huffed in annoyance. “We’re in constant contact and having to cut off every sentence like that is irritating me. And fine, by the way, I’ll mark it. We can explore a bit more and come back to this if we don’t find anything else.” I kind of wanted to check it out, but Ron was right. I wasn’t getting into that easily. Better to come back.
Grabbing a piece of broken rock from inside the chamber I dragged it out and jammed it into the dirt next to the open door. I left it open so it would be easier to see and then moved on, getting back to my exploration. Before leaving I picked up the lantern and hung it on my belt, keeping my weapons out and at the ready.
Despite being underground in what was essentially a giant grave, I was feeling pretty excited by this whole thing. This was the kind of adventure I’d been looking forward to in the forest. For some reason, being out here on my own was making this less nerve wracking, not more.
I knew it made no sense, but it was like the opposite of being in a car. When you were driving it was terrifying, because you were responsible for a giant metal box powered by explosions. But when you were a passenger, it was easy to not worry about anything and give up control to whoever was in charge.
Except in this case, I was the one in charge, so being alone let me relax and let go of my worries. If something went wrong, I would just deal with it. Run or fight, my options were laid out pretty clearly.
I cheered up immensely as I walked, analyzing everything as I went to look for any more chambers I might be able to access. Sadly, nothing came up.
Finally, I came to a large fork in the path. “I’m at the intersection,” I informed my friends. “Which way am I supposed to go at this thing?” I couldn’t remember what they’d told me for the life of me, but I knew it was important. It really was a good idea to leave the walkie on.
“Left at the T junction,” Denny said quietly. “But be careful. There’s a nest of moles near the turn off. Aurelia wants you to examining the chamber at the end though. The drones picked up a couple interesting stone constructions she couldn’t identify. Just be careful, a bit of rock isn’t worth your life.”
“Glad you think so,” I said wryly. “And thanks, I-” I don’t know what tipped me off. There was no sound or even movement, but I got SOME kind of sign. I dove sideways, avoiding the long, sharp claws of a giant mole. Cursing, I lashed out with my blade.
The mole hissed, blood dripping from a small cut as it backed off. I raised my gun and fired a warning shot, winging it. I considered going for the kill, but aside from it being a big furry animal, I was hoping if it was scared enough it might warn off the others. Between the noise and pain, it screamed and turned to run back around the corner, in the direction I was heading.
“Gus?” snapped Ron worriedly. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I huffed, staring off after the mole. “Just surprised. Didn’t even get grazed. But the moles definitely know I’m here.” I stared after the big beast, worry etched on my face. I shook it off. “I’m moving forward. I’ll get Aurelia some pictures of those stone constructs. Over.” It seemed like a good time to say it, because I was going silent as I advanced. With that out of the way, I tightened my grip on my weapon, heading further down the tunnel. I could tell this was going to be an interesting night.