Chapter 82: More Than One Shortcut

The crypt aberrant did what it could to defend itself, but the attacks from the hundreds of reanimated bodies were relentless. If those bodies had not been the monster's own victims, Nerez might even have felt a little sorry for it.

"Nerez..." Edran said as he approached, watching what looked like a colony of ants tearing apart its prey. "It's normal not to talk about your past when you're an adventurer, but if you're the grandmaster of one of the empire's schools of necromancy, I'd like to know so I can treat you with the respect your rank deserves..."

Grrrraaaagh...

At that moment, the crypt aberrant let out a dying roar, and both the creature and the hundreds of corpses swarming over it went still.

"Don't worry, I'm no grandmaster," Nerez replied with a sigh. "In fact, I'm here to get away from that sort of formality, so you can keep treating me the same way you have until now."

"That makes it sound as though you do have some kind of title. Maybe Ilyra calling you 'my lord' wasn't entirely a joke after all," Edran replied with a smile. "Still, all right. Everyone has their reasons for becoming an adventurer. I won't pry into things that don't concern me."

"Edran, Nerez! Watch out!"

Bastor's warning suddenly rang out. Moving at astonishing speed, a second crypt aberrant leapt over the first creature's corpse and lunged at Nerez and Edran, who were standing in front of the others.

Ily already had her bow drawn, but Nerez's reflexes, honed over thousands of battles, were faster. He had already snapped his fingers (though he regretted it halfway through the motion, when it was too late to stop).

[Black Pyre]

[No flame is more final than the one that bears you to the afterlife]

The skill activated immediately, and black fire engulfed the creature in mid-leap. Within milliseconds, the crypt aberrant was completely consumed. Only its ashes fell to the floor.

"Is that... is that a necromancer skill?" Bastor stammered, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't think even the grandmaster of Phatar's school of pyromancy could create flames that powerful," Edran said, his eyes as wide as saucers.

Yvene gave Ilyra a look that made it clear she had just figured something out. Ilyra answered with a grin from ear to ear.

They watched, stunned, as the last ashes of a creature whose species was considered one of the most feared in Eryndea fell to the floor. Then everyone turned to Nerez.

But Nerez had once again buried his face in his hands.

***

The quest, after all, was to explore the tomb and uncover whatever treasure it might hide. So the surprise of having a world-class necromancer in the party eventually took a back seat to the need to keep moving through the dungeon.

Even so, the three novice adventurers kept glancing back at Nerez with obvious admiration as he and Ily brought up the rear.

"Lord Nereziel, what happened to not taking the enemy out in a single attack?" Ily whispered into his ear, trying to hold back her laughter. "Or is the fire of the Underworld less conspicuous than my arrows?"

Nerez looked at her for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.

"No comment..."

"If you revealed your identity now, I think you'd gain three new devout followers," Ily said, glancing at the adventurers, who happened to be looking back at them at that exact moment. Embarrassed, they quickly looked away.

"You know I came to the mortal world to get away from all that," Nerez whispered back. "I'm on vacation."

Ily gave a quiet giggle, but Nerez turned his attention to the Godscript screen he had open, invisible to everyone else.

Just as I thought, that was the hidden condition.

[Proficiency UP!]

[Epitaph]

[Proficiency A -> S]

"Edran, who did you say owned this tomb?" Nerez finally asked as he closed his Godscript.

"Mm? If I remember correctly, his name was... Kayrus Odentis," Edran replied, one hand on his chin. "Legend has it he was a powerful necromancer and a devout follower of the god Nereziel. But in the end, the Cult of Light, which had risen to power in Phatar, managed to defeat him."

"Now that I think about it... Nerez does sound quite a lot like Nereziel," Yvene remarked, tilting her head. "Do necromancers like choosing names similar to the god of death's?"

"Something like that... My... right, my parents are very devout believers..." Nerez replied, scratching the back of his neck. "But more importantly, what about the Cult of Light?"

"Yes. It later became the Church of the Sun," Edran explained.

"It's the second most important institution in Phatar after the monarchy," Bastor added.

Well, that explains Helux's influence in this kingdom...

"The path splits here..." Edran suddenly called out from the front of the group.

They had reached the end of the corridor, where it opened into a T-junction.

"We can split into two groups. Nerez and I can take one path, and the rest of you can take the other," Ily proposed. "We're only trying to see which path is the right one, of course. After a while, we'll turn back and meet here again."

"There'd be no one in your group who specializes in close combat..." Edran began, but then a smile spread across his face. "Although I don't think I need to worry. All right, that's a good idea. But like Ilyra said, you're only trying to find the right path. Don't go too far. There could be worse traps ahead."

***

"Lord Nereziel, why were you asking about the owner of the tomb?" Ily asked after they had been alone for a while.

"Well, Epitaph just reached proficiency S, and I thought he might be a good candidate to use it on..."

"Didn't you say that skill disgusted you?"

"And it still does, but I am... I was human, after all. I'm curious."

"Well, then you're in luck, Lord Nereziel."

"What do you mean?"

"When using short-range spatial magic without a fixed destination or a magic circle where you can appear safely, you need another kind of magic that lets you examine the space around you," Ily explained.

"Yes, I remember hearing something like that before."

"Well, using that magic, I found what seems to be a huge chamber beyond a couple of walls to our right," Ily said with a broad smile. "What do you say we take a shortcut?"

"That takes all the fun out of explor-"

But Ily had already taken his hand, and in a flash of light, the two of them disappeared from the corridor.