The Glass Warrior [Weak to Strong LitRPG]

"Wait!" Someone yelled just as Lucas was about to turn the handle on the door and finally step inside.

He paused, glancing back at the speaker, and was surprised to see a… less decisive expression on the Hive leader's face, something almost friendly. The sight made him grin.

"Come on, pal. You can't just leave us here. At least tell us how you did it."

Lucas considered the request for a moment.

"All right. I guess that's fair," he said, to the visible relief of the others. "Well, for starters, I simply put one foot in front of the other, and then I— No, wait. Yeah, that's it. Just the foot thing."

Silence fell over the group as they processed his words. Then, predictably, the furious cursing resumed.

Lucas sighed loudly. "Huh. There's just no winning with you people. I try to help, and you get mad." He shook his head.

For a brief moment, he wondered what the hell he was doing. At first, he'd just been provoking them to assert his strength, but now… all right, he just enjoyed messing with them way too much.

That particular side of him had only come out after arriving in Ponos, and for good reason. If he'd pulled this kind of stunt on Earth, his flimsy body would've racked up a thousand fractures in no time.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be off. Pleasure knowing ya!"

As he turned back to the door, a flicker of doubt crept in. What if, after all that, he couldn't open the damn thing?

Fortunately, much to his relief, the door swung open. Just in time too, a spell whizzed toward his back, but he managed to slam the door shut before it could reach him. Judging by the lack of any residual effects, that was a very sturdy door.

The first thing he noticed upon stepping inside was the sheer darkness. He couldn't see a damn thing. With a flick of his fingers, a small flame ignited in his palm, casting flickering light across his surroundings.

From what he could see the tomb was empty. No murals, no decorations, just smooth, dark stone walls that gleamed faintly in the firelight. The floor was just as polished, almost unnatural in its uniformity, as if untouched by time or decay.

Ahead, a corridor stretched into the darkness, but even from where he stood, he could feel it—an oppressive weight in the air. The aura of death that had been present outside was even stronger here, and the orb definitely could it feel it too, judging by how fast it was pulsating.

If there were any treasures hidden there, he couldn't see them from his very limited scope of view, and he didn't dare leave his spot before he had taken the appropriate measures.

Lucas turned back to the door, mind racing. What can I do to delay them?

He had no doubt the others would catch up soon, and he wasn't exactly keen on sharing the spoils of this expedition.

Should I just kill them? The thought crossed his mind. He could hide in the dark, wait for them to enter, and pick them off one by one. But the more he considered it, the riskier it seemed.

He didn't know this place. What if there were hidden traps? One wrong move, and he'd be dead before even laying eyes on whatever treasure lay ahead. Not to mention the moral implications of murdering people just to cut down the competition.

No, he couldn't be reckless. He had no issue with killing if it came to that, he was way past that point, but he needed a better reason than mere convenience.

Looking around for alternatives, his eyes landed on a rusted lock bar, discarded near the door. He grabbed it only to nearly drop it.

Damn, this thing was way heavier than it looked.

With some effort, he wrestled it into place, securing the door from the inside.

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That done, he stepped back, eyeing his handiwork. The whole setup made him pause with a weird frown on his face. Was this tomb used for something else before?

It didn't make sense for a tomb to be locked from the inside, unless you were considering vampires, and Lucas surely wasn't. Maybe it had been a church or something before?

Either way, he wasn't about to waste time pondering ancient architecture. He was on a timer. So, with a mental thanks to whatever luck charm had placed that lock bar there, he turned away from the door and cautiously ventured into the dark corridor.

As he moved forward, he realized the tomb wasn't entirely devoid of decoration. His flickering flame cast uneven shadows on the walls, revealing faded paintings lining the stone passage. One in particular made him pause.

Lucas stepped closer, tilting his head. It depicted a grand battle, warriors clashing in an almost chaotic swirl of blades and bodies. The details had faded over time, but the sheer intensity of the scene still carried through.

After a few moments of appreciation, he shrugged and moved on. They were cool, sure, but he didn't see the point of putting them here, in a place where no one would ever see them. Then again, what did he know about burial customs in this world?

Continuing down the corridor, he kept an ear out for any sounds behind him, but for now, the door held.

At the end of the passage, two things caught his eye: a simple yet sturdy-looking door and a chest lying on the floor beside it. The chest was small, made of dark, time-worn wood, with rusted metal fittings holding its structure together.

A chest, huh? Almost like a real dungeon, Lucas mused as he cautiously approached.

The thought that this could all be a trap did occur to him, but time wasn't exactly on his side. He couldn't just leave the chest there, unopened, tormenting his curiosity. Bracing himself, he saw that the chest wasn't locked and flipped the lid open.

No gold. No artifacts. Just a simple key resting at the bottom. Lucas exhaled, glancing at the door ahead. Sure enough, there was a keyhole.

All right then, not a treasure, but at least I won't have to break this one down.

Snatching the key, he wasted no time slotting it into place. As the lock clicked open, a loud bang echoed through the corridor, the unmistakable sound of the other door being battered from the outside.

Lucas smirked.

At this rate, they'll be experts at breaking down doors by the time we're done here.

Without another thought, he stepped through and slammed the door shut behind him, locking it in place.

Turning to properly take in his new surroundings, he found himself in a narrow corridor, nothing but stairs leading downward as far as his light could reach. With no other option, he began his descent, step by careful step.

Since he'd never been inside a place like this before, he had no idea if this kind of architecture was normal or not, but it felt pretty damn weird to be going deeper underground right after entering a tomb. It was like the setup for some horror movie, and at this point, he wouldn't even be surprised if he stumbled across actual vampires lurking in the darkness.

The more he thought about it—and those endless stairs gave him plenty of time to think—the stranger it seemed. He was basically invading the resting place of some ancient lord just to loot his corpse. That had to be some level of sacrilegious. Then again, considering he'd just poisoned the mayor's son not long ago, his moral compass had already taken quite a beating.

Lost in thought, Lucas barely registered the monotony of step after step after step, until suddenly his foot slipped.

His heart lurched as he instinctively braced for a fall, but the expected sensation of missing a step never came. Instead, he realized with a sinking feeling that he hadn't actually lost his footing, he'd just triggered something.

A sharp click echoed through the corridor, followed by a soft whirring noise from somewhere in the walls.

"Ah, hell."

Thin slits opened along both sides of the passage, and in the next instant, a volley of poisoned darts shot toward him.

Lucas barely had time to react, throwing up his hands as a shimmering veil of water formed in front of him. The darts tore through the barrier, but the liquid slowed them just enough for him to twist his body out of their path. A few still grazed past him, but none landed a direct hit.

Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the corridor, trying to spot the mechanisms that had fired the projectiles. He had to be careful, there was no guarantee that was the last of them.

With his focus back, Lucas kept going down, step after step, until finally, the stairs ended. It couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes, but it felt like an eternity in such a tight space, and he already dreaded the moment he'd have to climb all the way back up.

The floor here was just like the first chamber: smooth, polished black stone, reflecting the dim light of his flame. The walls were made of the same material, unnervingly perfect, no cracks, no signs of age. But something was different.

The air was heavy. Stifling. Even before he moved, he felt it. The death aura here was stronger than anywhere else, pressing down on him like an invisible weight, and he had to release a bit of his own to take the pressure of him.

Instead of feeling uneasy, though, he felt a spark of excitement. That had to be it. The thing he was looking for had to be somewhere around here.

That excitement didn't last long, though.

Out of the corner of his eye, something moved.

At first, just a flicker of darkness, like a trick of the light. Then he saw it, a massive figure shifting in the gloom, and he could swear he felt the ground tremble as it did.

Lucas went still. His muscles tensed, instincts kicking in as he prepared for whatever the hell that was.

A heavy silence filled the chamber.

Then, a deep, grating sound echoed through the air, metal scraping against stone, slow and ominous. He couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle.

Here we go again.