Deep in the Graveyard

Even in the early morning, the Old Graveyard was permeated by an inescapable air of decay.

Sunlight pierced the twisted, claw-like branches of dead trees, casting mottled shadows across cracked tombstones and wildly overgrown weeds.

A strange, sickly-sweet stench mixed with damp earth and rotting leaves hit Xia Lin, making him wrinkle his nose.

"This place smells like an ogre threw a party here and then everyone got food poisoning." Xia Lin lowered his voice, trying to dispel the oppressive atmosphere with a joke.

Sera ignored his "humor" and warily surveyed their surroundings.

Unlike Xia Lin, who recoiled from the air of decay, Sera seemed to breathe more easily. The purple tail beneath her robe also seemed more relaxed than usual, as if the deathly silence and negative energy here made her feel more at ease.

His gaze swept over patches of disturbed earth and toppled tombstones. Now and then, he caught sight of a few fat grave rats darting through the cracks in the stone, or heard carrion birds croaking from dead branches in the distance.

The faint, oppressive feeling in the air dispelled what little ease Xia Lin had felt at first. He gripped his newly acquired longsword, his vigilance at its highest.

This place was more unpleasant than he'd imagined.

The two continued deeper into the graveyard.

The farther they went, the more densely packed the tombstones became. The crumbling buildings of several family mausoleums stood like silent beasts on either side of the path, their shadows slicing the sunlight into fragments as the light quickly dimmed.

The branches of towering dead trees crisscrossed overhead, almost blocking out the sky and leaving only a few pale rays of light.

"You've got to be kidding. There really are monsters!" Xia Lin suddenly hissed, pointing ahead.

In an area where the tombstones stood close together, several withered, rotting arms suddenly thrust up from beneath loosened grave mounds. A moment later, three ragged zombies reeking of rot staggered out of the earth.

They clutched rusty short swords or broken bones in their hands, groaned hoarsely, and lurched toward Xia Lin and Sera.

"Leave them to you." Sera folded her arms and stepped back a few paces, her tone casual, as if the swaying lumps of rotting flesh before them were nothing more than a few pesky flies.

"And no slacking off." Xia Lin shot back, but his feet never hesitated.

He took a deep breath. His new longsword traced a bright silver arc in the dim light as he charged at the zombies.

One zombie swung its rusty sword at him. Xia Lin didn't dodge, taking the blow on his shoulder.

Clang! Sparks flew. His scales barely trembled, and the zombie's attack didn't even leave a scratch.

Xia Lin seized the opening and thrust his sword forward. [Pierce]!

The tip pierced the zombie's rotten eye socket and went straight through its skull. He flicked his wrist and pulled out his sword. The zombie swayed, then fell to the ground with a thud.

The other two zombies had closed in.

Xia Lin remained calm, his steps nimble. Making use of his new sword's lightness, he let its blade flash as his [Block Counterattack] grew more practiced. He easily turned aside the zombies' wild swings, then countered with a slash that darted toward their necks like a venomous snake.

Thwip! Thwip!

Two more rotting heads went flying.

Just as Xia Lin finished off the last zombie and was about to catch his breath, Sera's icy voice rang out. "Watch your left!"

Xia Lin was startled and abruptly rolled to the right.

Almost the instant he left his spot, a zombie a size larger than the ordinary ones, its bones an eerie black, soundlessly sprang from a cracked stone coffin nearby. Its bony claws, glowing faintly with negative energy, slashed at the ground where Xia Lin had stood, leaving several deep gouges.

"Thanks!" Xia Lin said, shaken, and looked toward Sera.

Warlocks usually had a sense similar to [Detect Magic], allowing them to perceive faint magical glows and fluctuations in energy. That meant Sera could often sense something amiss before Xia Lin when danger was unknown.

Sera didn't respond. A dark red glimmer flashed in her eyes beneath her veil. She raised one hand and pointed her palm at the black zombie as it charged again.

"Hallelu-Yah!" she uttered, a strange syllable imbued with uncanny power.

A beam composed entirely of purple-black energy shot from her palm like a spear forged from shadow, striking the black zombie's head with pinpoint precision.

Boom!

A muffled blast sounded. The black zombie's head burst apart like a watermelon smashed by a sledgehammer, sending rotten tissue and bone fragments flying in every direction.

"[Eldritch Blast], the cantrip I use most often." Sera lowered her hand and explained casually, seemingly unmoved by her precise, lethal strike. "It works better than your scrap of metal against idiots with nothing but rotten flesh for brains."

Xia Lin looked at the headless corpse still smoking on the ground, then at Sera, calm and unruffled. He had gained a much clearer understanding of the Tiefling warlock's strength.

After clearing away these clueless little appetizers, the two continued deeper in.

The vegetation grew denser as they reached the depths of the graveyard. Towering vines coiled around the crumbling stone walls of the mausoleums like giant serpents, while thick bushes nearly swallowed the path.

The air of decay and deathly silence grew heavier still.

"The old gnome said the Graveyard Ghost likes to grow in places thick with death." Xia Lin pushed aside a vine dangling in front of him and carefully studied their direction. "In theory, it should be somewhere around here."

Sera closed her eyes, as if sensing something.

A moment later, she opened them and pointed to the left. "The negative energy is strongest over there, and also the most... 'pure.'" She chose an unusual word.

The two headed in the direction Sera had indicated. The area was almost completely covered in wild vines and bushes, and at its center they could just make out the outline of a sizable, ruined mausoleum.

Xia Lin drew his longsword and carefully cut through the thorns and vines in their way, while focusing his [Item Appraisal] on the surroundings.

[Weed-Choked Ground (Stone Slabs Beneath)]

[Collapsed Stone Wall (Ordinary Rock, Partly Covered in Necromantic Moss)]

[Dead Thornbush (Sharp Thorns, Beware of Scratches)]

When he focused [Item Appraisal] on the ground near the mausoleum entrance, a patch covered by thick fallen leaves and newly sprouted weeds, a line of information unlike the others suddenly appeared on the pale blue screen:

[Disguised Stone Steps (Descending, Leading to an Unknown Area)]

[Condition: Structure Still Sound, Entrance Cleverly Concealed]

[Assessment: Looks like someone found this secret before you did. The question is, did they leave with their arms full, or did they remain below forever?]

"Hey, Sera, look here!" Xia Lin brushed aside the weeds and fallen leaves, revealing several stone slabs whose color differed slightly from the surrounding ground.

He tapped them with the hilt of his sword. They gave off a hollow thud.

The two worked together to move the slabs aside, revealing a pitch-black stone staircase descending through an entrance just wide enough for one person.

Scattered around the entrance were fragments of rusted shovels, a broken crowbar, and several human skeletons reduced entirely to bones. Judging by their skeletal remains and the tattered clothes scattered nearby, they had clearly been tomb robbers.

Xia Lin used his sword tip to lift a skull that had turned brown. Staring into its empty eye sockets, he clicked his tongue twice. "Looks like these unlucky tomb robbers came looking for treasure and ended up getting themselves killed."

"Greed is its own punishment." Sera's gaze swept over the bones, her tone cold. "Let's hope we don't meet the same fate."