When Rody woke up again, he found himself cold, hungry, and soaking wet. He was surrounded by darkness, unable to see his own hands.
Overcome by fear of the darkness and the unknown, Rody tried to calm himself. He got up and groped around until he inadvertently touched the cave wall, which brought him a bit of comfort. After feeling his way along the rocky wall for a while, stepping into puddles a few times, he realized he was in a sealed stone chamber. The lower areas of the floor had collected rainwater over the years, and this was probably why he had survived the fall.
Was this chamber naturally formed? inhabited by a giant snake? or man-made?
Rody cautiously threw small stones around, gripping the broken dagger for protection. He eventually concluded that the chamber, for whatever reason it was formed, had been abandoned for a long time, as there were no snakes or even mice.
This realization brought him some relief.
Rody tried several times to find the exit he had fallen through. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't reach the opening, even when jumping. It seemed that escaping wouldn't be easy. Rody searched the cave repeatedly, hoping to find a hidden exit, but to no avail.
Exhausted, he sat down against a stone wall to rest and recover his depleted energy.
He only then noticed that his right shoulder hurt from the fall. He moved his arm slowly and realized it was just a sore joint. While relaxing, his hand accidentally touched something that made him jump – a skull. The skull fell to the ground, eerily igniting a faint phosphorescent glow.
Terrified, Rody froze. When he realized the skull wasn't moving, he swallowed hard. Despite the eerie phosphorescence, the light was better than darkness. He found some comfort in the skull's light, preferring it to encountering a giant snake.
What caught Rody's attention wasn't just the skull, but something peculiar beside it.
Carefully using his dagger, Rody discovered it was a dust-covered magic book. The phosphorescent light was faint, and he couldn't see clearly, but finding a book made him less scared of the skull. As a fellow book lover, he felt a slight affinity even towards a skeleton that once shared his passion.
The phosphorescence soon faded, but Rody remembered he had flint on him.
Although this primitive fire-starting tool wasn't as convenient as a magic fire stone or torch, it was a welcome surprise. He tried repeatedly to ignite his semi-dry undershirt, eventually succeeding. The intermittent fire and smoke were a struggle, but he managed to light both his shirt and pants. During the brief warmth and light, he hurriedly opened the magic book left by the skeleton to find out more.
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"My time is running out, but fortunately, my magic is nearly complete. As long as my theory is correct, freedom will be mine..."
From the tattered magic book, Rody learned a lot.
Firstly, this was a man-made prison for a necromancer. The necromancer, known as 'Nicholas', had been pursued across the continent for practicing evil necromancy. Over a hundred years ago, he had hidden in a wagon of the Leyen family and fled to Coro.
Rody's great-great-grandfather had captured him and was about to execute him when Nicholas deceived him with tales of hidden treasure. Greedily, Rody's ancestor built this chamber to imprison Nicholas secretly while he searched for the treasure.
Rody knew the outcome – his deceived ancestor had entered a dragon's lair, found no gold, and met his end inside the dragon.
Trapped, Nicholas planned to escape as soon as Rody's ancestor left. But with his physical strength, it was impossible to leave through the slanted tunnel. Only a warrior of four stars or above with battle qi could escape, and a frail mage like Nicholas had no chance.
This realization also brought despair to Rody.
His body was even weaker than a mage's, presenting the same dilemma Nicholas had faced.
The mad necromancer thought of an absurdly bold plan: to transform himself into an undead being. This would eliminate the need for food and water, as undead do not eat or drink and never tire. Nicholas's plan was insane. If successful, he would become both master and slave to himself; he would be both the summoner and the summoned in his necromancy...
Sweating profusely from reading the book, Rody couldn't help but wonder if there was anyone crazier in the world than a bloodthirsty orc who would stuff his intestines back into a gaping stomach wound while still persisting in battle. He had thought not, but now he knew of someone even crazier: a necromancer who turned himself into his own summoned undead servant.
Clearly, Nicholas' magic had failed, despite his confidence. He had died and become a skeleton.
"Necromancy is not as evil as people imagine. In fact, I prefer to call it spirit magic," Nicholas had written in the book. "I believe that necromancy relies on a magical element that people have yet to discover, which I might call the spirit element. Of course, if others heard me say this, they'd think I'm mad…"
As Rody continued to read, he realized this book was more of a magic journal. The mad necromancer, Nicholas, was not originally a necromancer but rather a wasted genius like himself. Nicholas couldn't learn the four elemental magics and, being smart and wealthy, aspired to be an alchemist. By chance, he obtained a necromancy book and discovered to his surprise that he was well-suited for necromancy.
In other words, his body lacked affinity for the wind, fire, water, and earth elements, but it resonated with the dark element, thriving in this field.
However, the Temple considered necromancy evil. Practitioners were viewed as blasphemous demons and, if discovered, were condemned to be burned alive. Despite being cautious, Nicholas was eventually discovered, and after a life of hiding, he met his fate in this stone chamber.
"I was wrong... When I could cast four-star necromancy spells, I thought I was invincible. But I didn't anticipate a regular Temple Knight could defeat me. His blessed shield and sword are the bane of necromancy. Damn, I shouldn't have provoked him. Although he would have made a great death knight, I didn't have the power to enslave him... Especially during the day when my powers were at their weakest. Surely, no necromancer would make such a foolish mistake as I did. What a fool I am!"
Rody realized from Nicholas' notes that his downfall was revealing his true identity too soon.
On the left middle finger of the skeleton, Rody found a small ring – Nicholas' storage ring, once implanted in his flesh to escape detection. His flesh had long since decayed, making the ring easy to find. Rody couldn't use or understand what might be inside the ring, but he doubted it contained food or tools for escape, or Nicholas wouldn't have tried to turn himself into his own summoned undead.
"Am I also going to die trapped here?" Rody wondered, panic setting in as his burning clothes were about to be extinguished. If this chamber was as inescapable as Nicholas had described, the chances of starving to death here seemed very likely...