Silas hadn't expected the door to open. Plenty of people had tried to get into that family tomb before, but none of them had managed it. So why was he the one who did?
"What the fuck?" he said, retreating a few steps.
He wasn't sure if the place was safe. He had no idea what was inside, so Silas decided to be careful.
Once the door was open, he saw a long hallway that looked like the others, except it was pitch black. Suddenly, red lights began to flicker on along both sides of the corridor.
The lights came on one by one. At the end of the hallway, he saw an arched doorway. Actually, there was no door, just the arch itself.
With nowhere else to go and curiosity burning inside him, Silas started walking. His footsteps echoed, and the silence made his heart pound.
"Is it a good idea to go in there?" Silas wondered.
The place looked strange, especially with the red lights, but he still wanted to see what was inside. After reading about the researchers who tried and failed to open the door, Silas wanted to be the first to explore it.
When he reached the end of the hallway, he peeked into the room beyond.
Inside, there were 22 stone caskets. Silas walked up to one to check for any writing, but there was nothing on it.
"What family was buried here?" Silas murmured.
It must have belonged to an important family, otherwise the tomb wouldn't have had a door that was so hard to open. But at first glance, nothing seemed special. It just looked like an ordinary tomb for an ordinary family.
Silas's eyes landed on a particular stone casket. It was set apart from the others, at the end of the room, right in the center near the wall.
This casket was different. Silas noticed red decorations, a skull symbol, and several runes carved into it. He had no idea what the runes meant, or if they meant anything at all.
Before opening that special casket, he checked the others to see what was inside. He had a guess, but since the tomb was so old, he expected to find nothing.
But what he found shocked him. Bodies. Perfectly preserved bodies. It almost looked like the people inside weren't even dead.
When Silas saw the body, he stumbled and fell to the ground.
"What the fuck!" he said.
Anyone would be shocked to see something like that, but being trapped alone in the dungeon made it even worse for Silas.
He got up and closed the casket. Then he waited. Nothing happened.
"At least they are not moving…"
After seeing the bodies in the stone caskets, Silas was scared to open the separate casket with the red decorations.
What if something dangerous was inside? It was clearly different from the others, so there was a good chance it held something unique.
Even with doubt lingering in his mind, Silas walked over to the casket and opened it, sliding the stone lid to the side.
What he saw inside was unexpected. Unlike the other caskets with bodies, this one held only a necklace.
The necklace was made of silver and looked fancy, with a red gemstone attached.
Silas, who was poor, felt a surge of excitement when he saw it.
"Maybe I could fetch some good money with this?" he pondered.
He wasn't this lucky every day. Besides, Silas already expected to be expelled from the academy after getting trapped in that part of the dungeon.
The two students who locked him in said they'd come back to help him leave the next day, but Silas knew the teachers would find out he'd been there, especially since a researcher lived in that area.
So at least with the necklace, he could get some money and leave the academy with a way to support himself for a while. Maybe he could even buy a small piece of land and live a quiet life.
Without thinking too much, Silas grabbed the necklace and pulled it from the casket. As soon as he touched it, something amazing happened—something he couldn't explain.
Images flashed through his mind like a vision. Silas couldn't move or think. After a couple of minutes, he came back to himself, but he couldn't remember what he had seen. It was as if he knew things, but whenever he tried to recall them, he couldn't—like someone struggling to remember and failing.
But there was one thing he understood clearly: the voice inside his head.
"Human, you had been chosen to be my apostle, the voice to bring back my tyranny, the person to help me reclaim this world. Will you accept my offer?
Silas threw the necklace away, but it floated back and wrapped itself around his neck. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get rid of it.
"I don't want to make a demonic pact," Silas said, "please, let me go!"
The holy church was powerful throughout the kingdoms and often warned people to stay away from cursed objects, saying they could bring ruin.
The church wasn't entirely wrong, but not completely right either. Some people gained power from these objects and kept their sanity. Still, power always came with a price.
"Human, you have no choice. You will accept me."
Silas complained with the voice, saying it aloud, "So why did you ask me first? When you are asking, it seems like you are giving me a choice…"
Seeing that Silas was scared, the necklace tried to calm him.
"You are a failure of a mage, and even your best friend betrayed you, right? You don't have a place to call home anymore, and no parents in this world. Tell me, what do you really want? I can give it to you."
Silas took a deep breath and listened to the words from the strange voice in his head.
"I-I don't have any dreams… I just want to get stronger and live a comfortable life. I'm tired of being used and looked down on by others…"
That was the only wish Silas could think of at that moment, but the necklace had already connected to his soul and sensed something more. It knew what Silas truly wanted.
"What about resurrecting the man who adopted you? The man who found you in the forest and took care of you? If you can help me reclaim my powers and ascend to the heavenly plane, I can bring him back. There's no catch. He will return as a normal person, not a zombie. Would that be a good reward for helping me?"
Silas froze. The holy church, famous for performing miracles, couldn't bring someone back to life. That was beyond anyone's power.
But the voice from the necklace promised it could bring back the soldier who had adopted Silas.
That man was one of the few important people in Silas's life. After his father died, Silas was too sad to stay in the village, so he joined the magic academy to escape his grief.
"Are you telling the truth?" Silas asked. "Don't joke about this! This sounds like something a cursed object would say to trick me!"
"I am. Isn't it strange that I know so much about your life? I can read your mind. We are one now. And this isn't the only thing I'll give you. I'll make you a powerful mage. Just accept my offer."
As soon as Malachar said that, something appeared before Silas's eyes.
It was a status box with just one option: Yes.
Just as Malachar said, Silas had no choice left. He had to accept the offer.
Silas accepted. As soon as he did, the dungeon began to shake.
"I think there's a guardian in this tomb, and it will try to kill you now that you've taken the necklace," Malachar said. "I'll take control of your body for a few seconds so you can feel the power you'll have one day."
Soon after Malachar spoke, a flesh golem charged at Silas. The golem was tall and heavy, wielding a femur as a weapon.
Silas felt afraid, but the fear vanished. Malachar took control of his body for a moment, and Silas's eyes turned red as it happened.
It felt strange to be a bystander, unable to move but watching his own body act. A green scythe appeared from nowhere. Silas grabbed it and used it to slice the golem in half.
It all happened quickly. With one clean slash, the golem was cut in half and killed.
Then Silas returned to normal, in control of his body again.