Chapter 23: The Catacombs

Time flowed like water. In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Originally, three days ago, Hughes had planned to go to the church that the Dean had mentioned.

However, he had asked Kate to stay behind and explain the church.

It turned out that the church was a teleportation portal. It was especially capable of teleporting mages to a world where there was no light. That world was called the catacombs. Basically, most of the monsters outside San Pedro were suppressed in this world.

This church was also an important place guarded by the Lach Academy of Magic. Other than that, there would be students dying in there every year. However, there was nothing that could be done in order to gain experience.

Therefore, Kate left Hughes behind to explain the world inside to him.

This lecture lasted for three days.

Kate told him that he could go to the church today.

After hearing the news, he was so happy that he hurriedly thanked Kate.

“Thank you, teacher!”

Hughes’ eyes lit up.

He finally had a chance to go.

San Pedro was a super large city. There were no monsters outside the city.

If he wanted to go, he could only go to the catacombs of Lach Academy.

“Even so, it’s still very dangerous because there might be a beast tide in the crypt every day.”

Kate’s expression was solemn as she said, “If you’re near the base, it’s still fine. But if you’re far away, then it’s hard to say.”

“Teacher, I understand.”

Hughes nodded.

He wasn’t stupid. He did not have enough strength yet, but he still wanted to go on a rampage.

Would that not just be suicide?

Kate thought for a moment, then immediately took out two glass bottles from the drawer.

Each of them was the size of an ordinary mineral water bottle.

Then she took out an iron box and said, “These two bottles are for pain relief. In the iron box is a bottle of blood recovery pills for healing. Please take it.”

Hughes was a little touched. “Teacher, this is too expensive.”

According to what Hughes knew, these things were worth about 50,000USD.

A teacher casually giving out 50,000USD was not a laughing matter.

“If I tell you to take it, then you take it.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so polite with me.”

“Of course, it’s just this once. I don’t have that much money.”

Hughes smiled.

In reality, he did not need these. With the light magic’s self-healing ability, it was more effective than any healing ability.

Moreover, the light magic’s self-healing ability was a type of healing ability. It was not directed at him but targeted at himself.

It was equivalent to a passive skill, and there was no such thing as control.

Of course, at this stage, Hughes did not intend to tell this secret to others.

But he still accepted it.

“When do you plan to go?”

Kate said, “I suggest you go to the base to take a look first and then find some companions who are pleasing to the eye. It would be even better if you have a senior with you.”

“Okay.”

Hughes nodded.

Of course, he would not go with anyone.

On one hand, he could not trust anyone.

On the other hand, what if his secret was exposed?

The tunnel of the San Pedro city was located directly north of the school.

When Hughes arrived, he suddenly had a somber aura.

A magnificent tower stood in front of him.

Around the tower, a terrifying aura spread and gathered into a torrent that rushed into the sky.

Those were the auras of the powerhouses in San Pedro City and the Lach Academy of Magic.

Below the tower, there were troops stationed.

These troops were sent by the city Lord’s Mansion of San Pedro to assist the Lach Academy of Magic.

Although the Lach Academy of Magic had many powerhouses, there were few in the middle or even at the bottom.

It was impossible for them to send students to be stationed there.

When they reached the foot of the tower, a teacher from the Lach Academy who was stationed there immediately went up and asked.

“Student, let me see your pass.”

This teacher was about forty years old.

He was not old, but there were many scars on his face.

The most obvious one was a tear from his forehead to his chin.

Although the teacher’s face was quite amiable, if an ordinary person saw it, they would definitely be shocked.

“Hello.”

Hughes handed over his identification card and was filled with respect for this teacher.

Before he came, Kate had already said that there were some teachers from the Lach Academy of Magic who was stationed here almost all year round.

Once the base in the catacombs could not be defended, these teachers would immediately go down.

In the Lach Academy of Magic, these teachers might not be the strongest.

But they were the most respected.

Even Kate would salute them every time she saw them.

“So you just reported in.”

The teacher sized up Hughes and said, “Young man, you have guts.

“But you must be careful.”

“Thank you, teacher, I will.”

Hughes said.

After entering the tower, Hughes immediately saw a black hole emitting black light.

The black hole was about two meters in diameter, and just looking at it made one’s heart palpitate.

Through the black hole, Hughes could also smell the thick scent of blood.

This was the tunnel that led to the catacombs.

No one knew how the tunnel came about.

No one knew if it would appear again elsewhere.

At the very least, Hughes had never seen this information on the internet.

“Buzz.”

The moment Hughes stepped into the tunnel, everything around him instantly went dark.

It was darker than the night, and everywhere was filled with the smell of death and blood.

Even though Hughes was mentally prepared, he still frowned slightly.

Hughes knew that the situation of the human race might be more severe than he had imagined.

The tunnel was quite short.

Soon, Hughes walked out of the black hole.

“This is…”

When Hughes looked around, his pupils contracted.

He was in a huge square.

There were soldiers and teachers and students of the Lach Academy training in the square.

Around him were buildings made of alloy.

Almost every building was covered in scuff marks.

Some of them were even more than half destroyed. Workers were rushing to build them back up.

Obviously, a beast tide had just occurred here.

Further away, there was an alloy wall that was about a hundred meters high.

The entire base was located within the wall.

The alloy wall was also riddled with marks.

These were demon beast scratches and bite marks all over it.

“So many magical weapons.”

Hughes muttered after looking around.

There were densely packed holes on the wall, and inside the holes were powerful psionic weapons.

In the tunnel of the underground cave, ordinary thermal weapons were useless.

Only new alloy weapons that were infused with mana could be used.

“Strange, there’s no sun?”

Hughes raised his head and saw that the sky was gray.

It gave off an extremely oppressive feeling.

But although there was no sun, it wasn’t particularly gray.

“Roar!”

Just then, the roar of a demon beast sounded from the depths of the forest.

“There are demon beasts nearby!”