LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 10: A Pyramid
When the teleportation ended I was at the foot of a massive stone pyramid. The building had seen better days. Overgrown vines spread through the entrance like a chaotic jumble of roots. A faded symbol sat above the doorway, but I had no idea what it was supposed to show. It looked a bit like a freaky three-eyed bird though I couldn't tell if it had wings or if it was supposed to light behind it. I was just about to head inside when the System's voice filled my head.
Reach the top of the Pyramid and destroy the being within. Reward: Cultivation Manual. Quality based on Performance.
Well damn, The reward had made the quest more than worth it. I turned around to make sure there wasn't anything else I needed to see. Seeing nothing, I decided it was time to move on. Psychic Aegis surrounded me. As soon as I entered a chill went down my spine. It wasn't the same as the danger warnings, instead, it was more like a dull discomfort. I pushed the feeling to the back of my mind and continued forward. The walls slowly began to change. The dull blank stone started to show images. Ancient sacrifices, blood magic and other things pictured on the wall further made me uncomfortable. It was made worse by the fact that I still couldn't tell if it was real or not. I was pulled out of my thoughts a few minutes later as I entered a large chamber. The chamber was about the size of a college atrium. The center of the room had a skylight that bathed an altar in bright sunlight. As soon as I entered I heard a low demented growl.
A scream of danger was my only warning as I threw myself to the side. By the time I completed my roll, the shadows had coalesced into the shape of a dog with three eyes. Darkness dripped from it like oil as it snarled at me. The dog dug its claws into the stone. They sunk nearly an inch into the rock before the dog shot forward like it had been fired from a cannon. I snapped out of my shock just in time for the dog to slam into my shield. Spider web cracks spread through it but the shield held. The dog was flung back a few feet and I unleashed Psychic Blast. A beam of mental energy hit the dog in the forehead. It let out a guttural howl before the eye on its forehead glowed a deep azure blue. My spell was shut off and mental agony slammed into my mind.
The dog had mental defenses. I shook away the pain and considered my next move. The dog was hurt by my attack but I couldn't tell who would go down first if we went at each other like that. There was also the barrier I had to worry about. The dog was faster than me, much faster. I was about to unleash another blast when an idea came to me. I briefly shifted my gaze to the altar. What were the chances that a shadow dog was weak to sunlight? I only had the time to consider it for a second before the dog lunged for me again. This time I was ready. I spun to the side just in time to avoid the dog's snarling jaws. I immediately sprinted for the altar. Every step felt like a hand was just behind me as if I would feel the dog's jaws snap around my neck. I reached the altar just as the dog slammed into my barrier.
The barrier held just long enough for me to get into the light. I spun around prepared to defend myself if my hunch turned out to be wrong. Instead of a snarling dog, I found a desiccated one. The darkness was peeled away as soon as it entered the light. In its place was a mummified dog, its skin was dry and cracked like leather while its teeth were rotted and barely held together. As soon as the darkness was gone the dog froze, I unleashed Psychic Blast as soon as I was able. The beam washed over it same as last time and I braced myself for a fresh wave of pain. Only it didn't come. Instead, the familiar surge of kill energy filled me. I smiled as I gained half a day's worth of cultivation in a few moments. My focus returned to the dog and I let out a shiver. If I had let that thing bite me would I have gotten sick? Can I get sick? My immune system was probably stronger than any human in history at this point.
Of course what if there were diseases that got stronger? Oh god what would a super polio be like or HIV or anything? I made a mental note to be far more careful with bites and other wounds. It would just be tragic to get superpowers and then die of sickness. I waited until I could trigger Psychic Aegis again before I continued my journey into the Pyramid. I walked through the halls and began to piece together a few things. This temple had a story which only made me more confused. Did the System create a temple for me to explore and then generate a "plot" for it? Or had the system sent me somewhere? I wasn't sure which of the two scared me more. The temple itself was a sort of Egyptian and Central American mix. It had the blood sacrifice of those pantheons with the heavy human-animal hybrid people theme. Only for some reason dogs were the special animal, not cats.
I wasn't sure if the darkness I encountered was supposed to be here though. It seems like the darkness was a corruption that the priests were trying to push back through devotion and sacrifice but if that was right how did it get into the temple? The pictures on the wall provided no hints toward that so the only way I would get my answers was by finishing the quest. I pushed on ready to face whatever came next.
I ran across three more of the dogs and two more pillars of light. The third dog was only partially obscured by the darkness. It behaved oddly when compared to the other two, it was almost as if the dog had partially resisted whatever the darkness had done to it. Of course, it still attacked me without mercy so I couldn't be sure how much of a difference it made. The energy I gained was wonderful. My dantian was at the threshold of a new level and I was already thinking about how I would spend the points.
The next chamber was a bit smaller than the last one and had a large cracked bell floating in the middle. The bill was made out of a dark grey medal that I had never seen before. It reminded me a bit of a gel, the outer section of the bell was hard while the middle floated like a liquid. Part of me wanted to touch it to see if it was cold but my experience here told me that was a bad idea. The last thing I needed was to get some mummy disease because I touched the weird metal. I walked around the room in search of a way out or a puzzle to solve but there was nothing. After a few minutes, I sighed and made my way over to the bell. I found another sigil at the base of the bell and could put together what I was supposed to do. The sigil would take my spiritual energy and then a trap would activate or a monster would come out.
I was about to touch it when I had an idea. I held out my finger and tried to push the spiritual energy out of my body. It only took a second for me to get the hang of it and a small thread of energy passed from my finger and toward the bell. I could only push it about an inch away from my body but it stopped me from needing to touch it. As soon as the energy entered the bell it rang. My world shrunk down to a pinprick and time seemed to slow to a crawl. The bell rang again and it felt like my soul was set ablaze. White hot pain shot through my entire body as I tried to process what happened. It felt like my mind was submerged in a pool of ice-cold water while my soul was set on fire. I wanted to scream and crawl up in a ball. Whatever was happening gave me no other option but to endure. When I next came to I was on the cold hard ground. Cold tears were still on my face as I got to my feet.
My body felt fine, normal really but it was my mind that had been attacked. Was that what it felt like when I hit someone with my mental attack? A shiver went down my spine as I promised to increase my defenses. I looked around and realized that I was in a different chamber. The bell was gone and there was a different hallway that led off in the same direction I had come from. Which meant that either I had teleported somewhere else after surviving the attack or I was in some opposite world. Or I was still asleep. I pinched myself not sure if that would work but the pain I felt was real which did help me relax slightly. My newfound calm was disrupted a few minutes later when a literal mummy came shambling toward me. The undead was nearly as tall as I was and wrapped in dirty brown bandages. The bandages were covered in dense and ornate sigils. The monster was soon joined by a second and third. Each one moved in an eerie unison that made it seem like they were controlled by a single force.
I summoned Psychic Aegis and the mental barrier sprang up to protect me. I was just about to begin my attack when something unexpected happened. The lead mummy placed a decayed hand on the barrier and an inky black spread from it. The barrier began to crumble. It was as if the barrier was being decayed at a speed visible. My connection to the spell broke almost immediately and I unleashed twin beams of psychic energy. The attacks washed over the lead mummy who stumbled forward. For a second it felt like my heart had stopped as I began to plan on how to deal with an enemy immune to mental attacks. Thankfully the lead mummy collapsed to the ground just as it reached out for me. A surge of kill energy told me I had killed it.
I fought a moving retreat as the last two mummies advanced. The fight was over within a few moments but my energy was starting to dip. The amount I had to spend to kill one of them was more than twice what I got from the kills. "I guess being a pure spell caster sucks at low levels just like in a game." The thought made me wonder who was in charge of "balance". So far the Title system seemed easy to exploit so— I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to get so distracted.
I pushed forward into the temple until I came across what was a boss room. It was a large burial chamber with a single ornate sarcophagus in the middle of the room. A symbol that was vaguely similar to the Eye of Wedjat sat on the wall above the sarcophagus. Various weapons decorated the floor of the chamber, there was everything from curved swords to axes and spears. Before I could consider what the hell was going on the sarcophagus opened and a decayed hand gripped the sides. Not wanting to deal with whatever that was I unleashed twin beams of Psychic Blast. Instead of what should have happened, both beams were drawn away from their target and into the eye. It took my mind a moment to catch up to what had just happened. The damn final chamber was a counter to mental attacks. I wondered if the System had fucked me over but I pushed the thought away.
The undead had climbed out of its tomb and looked terrifying. It now held twin curved swords in each hand, each blade glowed with corrupt black energy. The super mummy had the physique that would put most professional bodybuilders to shame. He had a strange-looking headdress on that I assumed would further protect him from mental energy. On top of all that the bastard was draining energy from the eye. I attempted to summon Psychic Aegis only for the energy to immediately drain away. I gritted my teeth just before a dull sense of danger entered my mind. I threw myself to the side just as the king's mummy blurred. A second later he appeared, both blades slicing through where I had been standing. I grabbed for the closest weapon, a long spear, and braced myself for battle.
Once again I felt a dull sense of danger just as the mummy blurred. I ducked low and narrowly avoided the blades. This time I focused on the attack and jammed the spear into the mummy's chest. The spear sank into the flesh with an ease that startled me. The point passed right through where its heart should be. It took me a second to process why nothing happened, a second that the mummy took slash its right blade across my left arm. I preemptively screamed as I braced to lose my arm only it didn't happen. A sharp pain shot through my mind but that was it. A dawning realization slammed into me like a truck. The blades dealt mental damage. I murmured the words as I created some distance between us. My mental defenses were pretty good which meant I wasn't in immediate danger which must have been why the danger sense felt so muted.
As long as I don't let him hit me too many times I should be fine. That didn't help my situation since he seemed to be immune to direct physical attacks I wasn't sure I could dismember him. I shifted my gaze to the still-glowing eye on the wall. What if I attacked something else? I only had enough time to consider when my instincts warned me of an attack. Instead of a dive to the side, I rushed forward. The mummy reappeared a moment later his blade narrowly missing the top of my head. I reached the sarcophagus and leaped on top of it and leaped for the eye. I slammed the butt of my spear into it with all the power my strength would allow. The eye didn't break but the stream of energy was disrupted and the mummy stumbled. It staggered a step and I slammed the spear home again and again. On the fifth impact, the eye exploded and the world slowed to a crawl.
I opened my eyes in a mixture of triumph, fear, and reluctance as my mental energy exploded. It felt like a flash-bang had gone off in my head. I screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. My thoughts were a nonsensical jumble of confusing impressions and emotions. It wasn't until I felt a scream of mortal peril that I was able to concentrate. I desperately rolled to the side and pushed spiritual energy into Psychic Aegis. The barrier sprang up just in time to block another attack. I felt the barrier starting to crack and I pushed more and more energy into it. I still couldn't see. It was like my mind couldn't comprehend the world around me. I gritted my teeth and focused on what I could sense. My danger sense warned me of another attack. Instead of trying to avoid it I trusted in my barrier and unleashed a Psychic Blast above me.
My and my attacker went back and forth where it tried to shatter my barrier while I tried to kill it. Thankfully whatever the explosion began to fade before I ran out of spiritual energy. I unleashed a final blast of psychic energy and mummy collapsed. It took me a moment to understand what happened after the explosion. The mummy had undergone a startling transformation. Its headpiece was gone, replaced with a dark replica of the eye on the wall. Its two swords had become one long blade with a deep curve and its skin was now covered in dense sigils. My guess was that the moment it lost all the mental energy it transformed into a second stage that lacked mental defenses but had physical attack power.
Now that the battle was over I couldn't help but laugh. That fight was amazing. Now that I knew what it was it would have been easier to throw weapons at the eye instead of trying to hit it. Of course, the best option would have either a proper mage or an archer just attack at range. I still wasn't sure if I was sent here for that reason. If I had been an archer the fight would have been easy. I was pulled out of my thoughts when the voice of the System returned.
Quest 4 Complete. Quest Grade: B. Reward Distribution has begun. Tutorial Title has been improved.
Tutorial- Quest 4: Survive The Tutorial Reward: All Attributes +10
I turned around and found a box on top of the sarcophagus. I quickly opened it and smiled when I saw the information crystal inside. My cultivation just skyrocketed. I closed the box when the familiar sensation of being teleported spread through me. I took one last look at the chamber around me and smiled.