Pre-System

Kai left the village with his father and his brother. It was cold outside, and the cold breeze hurt his nose and cheeks. Winter was something Kai enjoyed back on Earth, but the village lacked the necessary technology so surviving winter was much harder. That and the fact Kai was only a kid, so his body had a low resistance to the harsh weather.

However the idea of exploring that catacomb where they found the zombie was something that gave him the necessary strength to keep going.

"Why are we going there anyway?" Kai asked his father who was leading the way through the forest.

"The villagers learned about the zombie incident, and they want me to take a look at that place to make sure everything is safe," Zerin explained.

The story about the zombie spread through the village in a matter of hours, and it scared everyone. Zerin turned out to be the most capable mage to go there and take a look. The stories of him killing the zombie with one spell made him justice.

Once there, Zerin used his wand to create a tiny ball of light which floated around acting like a torch. Kai could see the usefulness of the spell, and made a mental note to learn it in the future.

Zerin was thinking about the same thing, "This is called the Candlelight spell. It is one of the most basic yet most useful spells for a mage. It's pretty good to explore dark places or read until late."

Kai already knew reading would be something he would do a lot during his academic life. Anyway, with the candlelight brightening the place, it became much easier to explore around. The first thing they saw was the zombie corpse, which was still in the same position as before.

'Good, this thing is still DEAD,' thought Kai.

Their attention moved to the stone door at the end of the cave.

"This is the entrance to the catacomb. I will try to open, so stay back," Zerin said.

It was common knowledge to always think that an unknown place has traps, and Zerin would not act careless, especially with his two sons there. He wanted to make sure nothing would happen to them.

Kai still did not know why his father was letting him go there. Hugh shared the same thought. Once the two were far from the stone door, allowing their father to open it, Hugh said, "Isn't this too dangerous? We don't know magic yet. You can't even use your sea of consciousness."

For a brief moment Kai wanted to say his accomplishments aloud, but restrained himself, agreeing with his brother, "Yes, I don't know why we are here. Did you notice something different from our father last night?"

"I don't think so. Well, I believe I heard father talk to himself during the night, but that shouldn't be something to be concerned about, right? It's pretty normal to say random things while sleeping sometimes. I did it too," Hugh said.

Hugh had a point. Kai didn't see that as a strange thing coming from his father. 'With the whole problem with mom, I can see my father acting a little weird sometimes.'

After a few moments, Zerin's voice echoed from the other side of the cave, "It is open. You can come. I will go take a quick look first and then come back."

By the time Kai and Hugh arrived in front of the open stone door, Zerin had gone inside and left. "It's safe, but we will only explore this first room, okay? Just to have something to say to the villagers."

Zerin was there to get proof, something to calm the villagers, something to make them feel safe again. He wanted to return and say, 'There is no danger there, we are safe.'

So, they explored. The tunnel leading to the first open room of the catacomb was narrow, all made of stone. The spiderwebs were everywhere, and Kai saw a few bugs crawling around. Hugh got scared because of it, but Kai was pretty okay with it. 'My camping trips back on Earth did something good for me,' he thought.

It was hard to breathe inside that place. Not only did the narrow corridor make them feel like they did not have enough air, the dust inside made it difficult too. That was certainly not a place Kai wanted to go often.

The first open room of the catacomb had, well, tombs. Zerin looked fascinated by it, and Hugh too as he was someone who enjoyed historical stuff.

"Who were these people?" Zerin shared his thoughts aloud.

Kai went close to the tombs too, and it was possible to see things carved on the stone. It was the name of the dead people, and the year they died. He was the first to notice so he said the dates, and Zerin was shocked.

"No way! This is too old!"

Zerin could not believe what Kai had said, so he went to his side to check the dates himself, and the dates were correct, just like Kai had said.

"How old is this?" Kai asked.

The exact year and stuff was something Kai was a little lost about, so he couldn't understand why the initial shock from his father.

"This dates before the system even came to his world. The amount of historical places with dates prior to the system is basically non-existent. All the information about it is top-secret, and the government does not share it with anyone," Zerin said.

Kai knew the system had been around for a long, long time, so the catacombs around him were pretty damn old. He kept looking around to see if he could find anything of use, and something strange happened to him. It was like a type of energy was connecting with his very soul.

'What is this feeling?'

He had no idea why he was feeling like that. Kai could sense the strange feeling came from the other door, the door leading to the next part of the catacombs.