There is a belief that when traveling to a strange or dangerous place, you should not go with an odd number of people.
It's an old superstition that claims odd numbers attract misfortune, leading to tragedy or unexpected company joining the group.
"Hey! Didn't I say that odd numbers are bad luck? There are five of us! That's not good!"
Said Charley, his face slightly pale with worry.
He was someone deeply rooted in superstitions, always anxious about things that seemed trivial to others.
He believed that if you went with an odd number, you'd return as an even number. Either because someone would die along the way, or because something, or someone, would follow you back.
"Come on, Charley, we've done this plenty of times, and nothing has happened."
Hilda replied confidently while tying her hair into a neat ponytail.
The humid, dim environment of the underground was no place for loose hair to get tangled.
She had learned from past experiences that loose hair could easily become an obstacle during exploration, especially in tight spaces.
Charley was from the House of Neptune. Hilda, on the other hand, hailed from the House of Mercury. Besides the two of them, there was Molly, a senior from the House of Saturn.
Most of them were third-year seniors, veterans of many strange expeditions, so they carried an air of expertise.
"This is my junior, Oz. Don't bully him, okay? Hahaha."
Nathan, the only fourth-year among them, introduced Oz to his fellow club members.
The Mystery Club, though an official academy club, was more relaxed compared to others. It was a place where rank and status didn't matter, which made the atmosphere much friendlier.
"Oz, take a wild guess. Where do you think this staircase leads?"
Nathan pointed with excitement to a staircase half-hidden behind a rusting metal grate and water drainage pipes. The stairs descended into darkness, disappearing into a gaping hole lined with stone.
The smell of dust, damp earth, and mold wafted up faintly when a cool breeze flowed from the tunnel below. At times, an even more sinister scent would creep up.A faint but unmistakable smell, like decaying flesh.
"Catacombs."
Oz answered flatly, his face blank, his mind elsewhere. He stood still, silently contemplating something.
—There's something in the catacombs I need to retrieve. But if I take it now, it'll disrupt my plans.
"Oh? Who told you that?"
Nathan asked, his expression slightly deflated. He looked like someone who had been gearing up to reveal an exciting secret, only to realize everyone already knew about it.
"Okay, we're all set. Time to drink the elixirs."
Molly said, holding up a small glass bottle filled with a strange liquid. She downed the potion in one gulp, followed quickly by the others.
The taste was unlike anything Oz had ever experienced. It was like drinking lettuce juice mixed with peanut butter. Another bottle tasted like cherry juice mixed with ground black pepper, and one even tasted like rotten pumpkin.
"Ugh! Why do all the elixirs taste so weird?"
Charley digusted as he looked at his empty bottle.
"I've finished recording the journal. At least we can now confirm this is the fifteenth catacomb entrance discovered on the fifth floor."
Hilda said, her voice laced with accomplishment as she carefully tucked the journal back into her satchel.
"Alright, I'm going in first."
Nathan said after feeling the effects of the elixir kick in.
He took the first step down the dark, narrow staircase. Hilda followed closely behind him, with Molly, Oz, and finally Charley bringing up the rear.
The thick, stifling air clung to their lungs as they descended into the darkness.
The faint light from their miner's headlamps did little to illuminate their path, casting long shadows on the stone walls.
Still, it was enough since catacombs were usually narrow tunnels.
"Lumos Orbis!"
Nathan whispered as he cast Conjuration Magic, summoning a bright white orb of light that floated just above their heads. The orb hovered, bathing the narrow passageway in light, far brighter than the dim beams of their headlamps. It would last for about 10 minutes before fading.
Nathan took the role of Navigator, his job being to lead the group and ensure they didn't get lost.
Hilda was the team's leader, setting the pace and making key decisions.
Molly and Oz were in charge of carrying logistics—bags of tools, rations, and magical equipment.
Charley, being the most superstitious of the group, was assigned the Sweeper position, walking last to ensure no one was left behind.
It was a formation commonly used in mountain climbing expeditions, ensuring all roles were covered.
"Hehehe, what do you think, Oz? Are you scared?"
Charley teased as they ventured deeper into the unknown.
"Of course not. I've been to catacombs before, though not the ones in Stellarkeep."
Oz replied, his mind flashing back to memories of navigating catacombs during his time with his master.
"Haha, good to hear!"
Charley's laughter bounced off the stone walls, echoing through the seemingly endless corridor.
The "Catacombs of Phaethon," or simply "the Catacombs," is the name given to the fourth floor in Stellarkeep.
Unlike the expansive open spaces of the other floors, with 50-meter-high ceilings and artificial skies, the Catacombs are a labyrinth of twisting passages that lead left, right, up, and down in a complex 3D maze, consisting of at least 10 layers of floors.
Navigating them is a near-impossible task, as the structure shifts and changes every 60 hours, making any attempt at mapping futile.
The people of Stellarkeep use these catacombs as a burial ground for the deceased, their tombs hidden deep within the stone maze.
"Alright, let's begin the expedition. We'll walk for six hours, and then we'll return."
Hilda declared, her tone commanding as the group's leader.
The five of them began moving through the labyrinth, their footsteps echoing softly in the hollow space.
Although the layout of the maze was a mystery to everyone, Hilda and Nathan seemed to have a destination in mind.
"Senior, what exactly are we looking for down here?"
Oz asked Charley, who was busy marking the stone walls with chalk to ensure they wouldn't get lost on their way back.
"Do you know the whereabouts of the House of Nibiru?"
Charles asked Oz with a curious expression, as they walked down the dimly lit catacombs.
"Never heard of it."
Oz replied, shaking his head. His voice was calm, but inside, he was puzzled.
—Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, Nibiru is speculative planet beyond Pluto.
Oz thought to himself, recalling astronomy lessons from his world.
"The legend says Mistheaven used to have nine houses. But due to a terrible incident, the Nibiru Dorm disappeared into the Catacombs."
Charley explained with a hushed voice. His tone was suspenseful, like he was narrating an old ghost story that could still come true.
"Hmm, I just learned about that."
Oz's response was neutral.
"They say that on one eerie night, a sinister ritual was performed inside the Nibiru Dorm. Every student and staff member in the house was sacrificed. The academy was so ashamed of the incident that they erased the existence of House of Nibiru from the official archives."
Charley added, his eyes widening as if he were reliving the horror.
Oz's master had never mentioned anything about the House of Nibiru. But she had once said that there was something in the Catacombs that should never be disturbed.
Secrets, she had told Oz, are often kept hidden for a very good reason.
"If you pay attention to the mural in the Main Hall, you'll notice it always has nine planets, not eight. That's a clue to the House of Nibiru. Plus, there's a hidden door in the Main Hall that was sealed off. But we found an old photo from centuries ago when all nine gates were still intact."
Charley continued, walking ahead as his voice echoed through the stone corridors.
"Stop! Don't make a sound!"
Nathan suddenly shouted from the front, his voice sharp and tense. Everyone halted in their tracks.
"We've found a burial hallway."
Nathan announced, his headlamp revealing a new part of the catacombs.
The walls ahead were no longer plain stone; instead, they were lined with skulls and bones arranged in intricate patterns, a grotesque decoration that seemed to mock the dead.
"Eek, I'm scared of ghosts!"
Charley shouted from the back of the group, his fear finally getting the better of him.
"You coward! Are you a man or not?"
Molly snapped, her patience wearing thin. Charley had been jumpy the whole trip, and it was grating on everyone's nerves.
*Clang* *Clang*
A crackling sound echoed from the shadows ahead, eerie, like bones being moved by something.
—Oh, here we go
Oz thought grimly. In the world of magic and danger, encountering creatures in places like these was inevitable.
—And the creature in front of us is…
"Wax Slime!"
Nathan shouted, alerting everyone to the presence of the strange entity up ahead.
—Huh, wax what?
Oz thought.
In front of them, they saw a group of waxy creatures, their bodies formed from the congealed fat of corpses buried deep within the catacombs.
The yellowish, gelatinous creatures slithered over the bones, scraping the wax off the skeletons they came across, as if collecting materials for their food.
Hilda wasted no time and stepped forward, raising her hand as she quickly muttered an incantation.
"Febris Frigoris!"
Hilda's spell was one of Curse Magic, designed to cause an unnatural chill in its target.
Against humans, it would only make them shiver uncontrollably, but against wax slimes, made of fat and wax, the curse acted like a freezing spell. Instantly, the creatures stiffened, their movements slowing as they became solidified by the magical cold.
"Who was the genius that tried to burn a wax slime with fire last time? One whole corridor went up in flames, and we almost ended up as roast duck in an oven!"
Hilda snapped sarcastically, glaring at Nathan.
—Yep, that definitely sounds like something senior Nathan would do.
Oz thought with a smirk.
Nathan chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He remembered the incident clearly, and just thinking about it made him cringe. They had all been way too close to getting burned.
"There are still a few more Wax Slimes up ahead. Nathan, light the path. I'll freeze them before they get too close."
Hilda commanded, her tone sharp and firm, like a squad leader giving orders.
"Roger that."
Nathan responded, quickly conjuring a small orb of light to illuminate the narrow corridor. The orb hovered just above his head, casting a soft, white glow that pushed back the shadows.
Working in tandem, Hilda and Nathan moved down the corridor. They froze and dispatched three more Wax Slimes with precise coordination, the slimes freezing solid before they had a chance to react.
"All clear!"
Hilda called out after ensuring there were no more creatures lurking ahead.
"Finally! Time for looting!"
Charley shouted in excitement, already rushing forward. He drew a machete from his bag and began slicing into one of the frozen Wax Slimes, revealing its insides.
"Jackpot!"
Charley cheered as he pulled out a handful of small, glistening stones. These were the wax slimes' cores, valuable materials used in crafting certain rare elixirs.
"These are going to sell for a fortune!"
Charley grinned widely, already imagining the profits they'd make from their expedition.
"Hi, senior. Look at this, the wall is covered in a thick layer of wax."
Oz said, pointing out the strange sight to his seniors.
Charley narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, examining the thick wax coating that spread across the wall in front of them.
"Hmm, strange. I've never seen a Wax Slime do something like this before."
He said, now unsheathing his machete to cut through the wax with forceful chops.
*Chop* *Chop* *Chop*
The machete cut through the wax with ease, the thick layer peeling off to reveal something hidden. Slowly, a narrow, dusty passage appeared behind it, stretching into the darkness.
"Hidden passage found!"
Charley's voice rang with excitement as he turned to the group, grinning like he had discovered buried treasure.
"So, leader, what's the call? Do we go in?"
Nathan's question broke through the moment of awe as he glanced at Hilda. His expression was a mixture of curiosity and caution, as the passage before them was unlike anything they had seen in the catacombs thus far.
Hilda, with her eyes fixed on the dark passage, weighed their options.
"Hmm, if we don't enter now, the layout of the catacombs will shift, and we won't be able to find this place again…"
She murmured, considering the risk. Then, her voice grew firm.
"Let's vote. Those in favor of entering, raise your hands."
Without hesitation, everyone raised their hands, the excitement of discovery outweighing the uncertainty of danger.
"Alright, let's explore this area!"
She raised her wand slightly, preparing a spell in case they encountered any unknown threats in the dark passage ahead.
They entered the passage cautiously, the narrow walls pressing in on either side of them. But something about this passage was different.
It wasn't like the cold stone tunnels of the catacombs. Here, wooden beams lined the walls, and as they ventured deeper, they began to see old paintings and decorations.
"This place doesn't feel like the catacombs at all."
Nathan whispered, running his fingers over one of the wooden beams.
"Could this be the Nibiru Dorm?"
Molly's voice broke through, her tone filled with excitement as she looked around.
Nibiru Dorm had long been a subject of legend, and now it seemed like they had stumbled upon something from the old stories.
However, their excitement soon turned into disappointment as the passage ended in a single, modest room. There was no hidden dormitory, just a quiet, abandoned room.
The room was about 15 meters long, 2.5 meters high, and 4 meters wide. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with old tomes, while the center of the room was dominated by a long, dusty table cluttered with alchemical tools, glass vials, beakers, and strange metallic instruments. It seemed to be the abandoned workspace of an alchemist.
"Look at this journal."
Nathan said as he reached for a worn, leather-bound book lying on the desk. Dust flew into the air as he opened it, and the pages were yellowed with age.
"5th July, 1351. I've finally succeeded in using the Black Plague to advance human evolution."
Nathan read aloud, his voice quiet and uneasy. The words seemed to hang in the air, heavy with the weight of something sinister.
"Wait… the Black Plague?"
Hilda said, her brow furrowed.
Before the Disease Dark Lord's rise, the Black Plague was the most feared illness, responsible for the deaths of millions across the world.
Nathan flipped through more pages, each filled with notes about the horrific plague, revealing experiments and theories that sought to harness the deadly disease for some grotesque form of progress.
"We shouldn't touch anything in here."
Nathan warned, closing the journal abruptly. The uneasy feeling in the room as if the past was still lingering within the walls.
*Clang*
*Crack*
Suddenly, a sharp sound echoed through the room as a glass container fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
"I told you not to touch anything!"
Nathan snapped, shining his light towards the source of the noise.
But when the light fell on the spot, there was no one there, just a pool of thick, black liquid oozing from the broken glass.
"We didn't touch anything!"
Charley protested, glancing around.
The liquid on the floor looked like tar, thick and glossy, slowly spreading across the floor.
—My gut's telling me something's about to happen.
"Senior, let's get out of here!"
Oz shouted because he felt something wrong.
Before anyone could respond, a horrible gurgling sound filled the room.
"Hel… Help… Bleugh!"
Molly's voice was choked, and as they turned to her, thick, black liquid began pouring from her mouth.
It was as if the tar from the broken container had taken hold of her, pouring out in waves, soaking through her clothes and coating her skin.
"Everyone, back away from Molly! Don't go near her!"
Hilda's voice was firm, but the look on her face showed the horror she felt. She was trying to maintain control, but the sight of Molly's condition was horrifying.
Molly's body crumpled to the ground, her limbs collapsing like they had lost all their structure, reduced to nothing but a limp, helpless form.
"Molly!"
Charley screamed, his voice shaking with fear as he watched the scene unfold.
From Molly's body, thick, black tar began to rise, as if it had a life of its own. It grew, stretching out and bubbling like a creature emerging from the depths of a nightmare. The tar twisted and shifted, forming into the shape of a monstrous, pitch-black entity.
"Run!"
Everyone bolted from the room in a chaotic scramble, desperate to escape.
Except for Oz, who remained standing alone, calmly observing the scene.
"Heh, and here I thought I'd found something interesting."
He muttered, not even remotely fazed by the creature looming before him.
The monster lashed out with slimy, dark tentacles, aiming to Oz in a brutal attack.
With ease, Oz dodged the strikes, his movements precise and almost casual. Each tentacle missed by mere inches, unable to even graze him.
"Transmutare Ultima!"
Oz's hand, now glowing with an intense blue light, shot forward, slamming directly into the creature's head. If that twisted mass could even be called a head.
*Whizzz*
In an instant, the creature began to dissolve, its form unraveling as it evaporated into thin air. The thick, black ooze that once made up its body was transmuted into harmless nitrogen gas.
He glanced briefly at Molly's body, now a misshapen, melted heap. The poor girl's form was barely recognizable, her body having been digested by the creature.
"Poor girl."
Oz whispered softly, but his eyes remained detached, showing little sorrow for the lost life.
Without wasting another moment, Oz quickly scanned the room. His eyes fell on the scattered journals and magic formulas, some still open on the alchemist's desk, and others thrown about by the earlier commotion. He grabbed a few, tucking them into his bag.
Then, putting on a face of pure terror, he sprinted out of the room, joining his panicked seniors, playing the role of the scared student perfectly.
"Where's Oz?"
Nathan gasped, his voice frantic as he tried to regain his breath.
"I'm here! Sorry, I got so scared I couldn't move my legs!"
Oz said breathlessly, his eyes wide with feigned fear.
Nathan and the others didn't suspect a thing. They had no idea Oz had stayed behind intentionally, nor that he had already dealt with the monster.
"Molly! Molly!"
Hilda's voice cracked with anguish as she called out, her face streaked with tears.
They all knew the truth. Molly was gone. Nothing could be done now. Her body lay lifeless. They had no choice but to report the incident to Mistheaven as soon as possible.
"We have to save her!"
Hilda cried, her usually stoic composure shattered. The strong leader they relied on had been replaced by a panicked, grief-stricken girl.
"Hilda! Look at me! Look at me! Molly's gone! We can't save her! We need to report this to the Academy first."
Nathan's voice trembled, though he did his best to sound firm, gripping Hilda's shoulders in an attempt to ground her.
In the end, they all agreed. They would return to the fifth floor, following the marks Charley had left along the way. There was nothing more they could do for Molly.
They had no choice but to inform the Academy, even though they knew the consequences could be dire. Suspension was almost guaranteed, and there was a very real possibility the mystery club's activities would be halted indefinitely.
It had taken them five hours to reach the alchemist's room, but only two hours to return. The four of them ran with every ounce of strength they had, hearts pounding, lungs burning, their minds still reeling from what they had just witnessed.
Eventually, Nathan reported everything to the academy's officials. In response, a search team was promptly formed, their mission to investigate the alchemist's room thoroughly.
Once again, Nathan led the group through the dark, winding passages of the catacombs, his heart heavy with dread.
When they arrived at the room, the creature described by the mystery club was nowhere to be found. But they did find Molly, or at least what was left of her.
The Academy officials said little. They confiscated all the books and materials they could find in the room, then proceeded to burn everything to ash. No trace of the alchemist's work was left behind.
Luckily, Oz had hidden the journal and the few books he'd taken before the Academy's search began. He smirked to himself.
In the end, Nathan, Charley, and Hilda were suspended for two weeks. Oz, however, was spared punishment, being seen as the innocent underclassman simply following orders.
The news of Molly's death spread quickly, becoming the talk of the entire school. But this world was no stranger to tragedy. Within a day, Molly's passing was already old news, overshadowed by the start of the new semester and the usual bustle of student life.
*Sip*
"Hic, hic, it's all my fault, hic. Drinking is the only thing that makes the sadness go away, hehehe. Isn't that right, Hilda?"
Nathan slurred, pretending to be drunk.
"Cut the act. That's pumpkin juice you're drinking."
Hilda snapped, her tone dry and irritated.
The majority of the mystery club's members had gathered in the cafeteria, their usual meeting room closed off by the Academy.
At least 40 people had shown up for the occasion. Nathan, Hilda, and Charley stood at the center, apologizing profusely and recounting the events to the others.
"Molly, who died in the catacombs, after being 'rescued,' was buried again in the catacombs. Hahaha, oh tragedy. Oh comedy."
Charley said, his voice dripping with mockery as he sipped his pumpkin juice, pretending it was something else.
But the room went silent as Oz stood up, pulling something out of his bag.
"I managed to grab this journal before we left. At least Molly's death wasn't entirely in vain."
Oz's words cut through the air as he held up the weathered journal for everyone to see.
The mystery club erupted with excitement. Within minutes, wild theories began to circulate, members eagerly discussing the contents of the journal.
Unbeknownst to them, Oz had already altered several sections of the journal, erasing key parts. Because the journal had been written by one of the former headmasters of Mistheaven.