Chapter 21: Tomb Raider Origins

The crimson inferno formation wasn't the worst danger I had to brave.

After I managed to get past the entrance, I stumbled into what seemed like a cave. For some reason, the tomb appeared to be made out of stone…either that or it seemed to be carved into a mountain or something. Yeah, why was it that tombs in cultivation stories never looked as if they were manmade? As if the artists didn't do their research or was too lazy, so just decided to draw an underground cave for a tomb.

Taking a deep breath, I spent a few minutes trying to recover my strength. Despite my divine dragon's protection, I still sustained several burns and injuries. Considering that I would have been instantly incinerated without my divine dragon's help, I thought it a low price to pay. Nonetheless, it wasn't fun walking around with burns or be in pain, so I needed the rest.

I didn't want to waste too much time, though, so I quickly got up and proceeded. After navigating through the corridors and taking a couple of turns, I found myself assailed by wraiths.

"Well, I did expect the tomb to be occupied," I muttered to myself. Not even bothering to summon my divine dragon, I stepped into their midst, my hands flashing out. The first wraith burst apart when my fist went through its chest.

Pivoting my front foot, I swung about and sliced through a second wraith with my bare hand, splitting the almost intangible form into two. Whirling about, I then kicked a third, obliterating its form. Ducking under a fourth wraith that tried to catch me, I rolled about on the ground and hammered my foot into what seemed to be its face, destroying it.

The poor wraiths never stood a chance.

After exterminating them, I took a deep breath and continued. Shaking my wrist to ease the tension, I peered into the distance.

Nothing. The tomb appeared to be safe so far.

The deeper I went, the more wraiths showed up. They were easy to defeat so I just blasted past them. What annoyed me were the formations. I had to summon my divine dragon to deal with them. Flames would spring to life in front of me, forming a blazing barrier that only my divine dragon could extinguish with his dragon breath.

Well, that was simple enough.

"Fortunately, there aren't any strong enemies here or I'll be screwed," I grumbled to myself while I headed deeper. By now, the corridor had terminated in what was a massive chamber. Once again, fiery barriers ringed the chamber, barring all access. I sighed and nodded, summoning my divine dragon to destroy the formations once more. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I watched my divine dragon get to work, feeling a little awkward.

For some reason, it felt as if I was letting my summoned spirits do all the work while I slacked at the back. I mean, that was the whole point of summoning, but my conscience still weighed heavily on me. I wasn't a lazy person. On the contrary, I preferred to work alongside my summoned spirits, to fight beside them instead of leaving everything to them.

Yeah, I know. I wasn't suited to be a summoner.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much of a choice. There was nothing I could do against the formations, so I could only watch. On the other hand, I prepared for a battle.

"Every tomb should have a guardian," I muttered under my breath, watching the chamber cautiously. Even as the crimson flames that my divine dragon extinguished revealed more of the chamber to my view, I still didn't catch sight of anything other than marble pillars and an artificial pond.

However, I refused to let my guard down. Many an explorer lost their lives when they got complacent and underestimated their foes.

My divine dragon nodded to me when he was done, and so far the only thing I could see was the coffin at the center of the chamber. To my surprise, the coffin was located within a moat, a small pond that shimmered gently. How the water didn't evaporate from the immense heat caused by the formations, I had no idea.

Eastern magic and formations. That was how. I didn't need to understand. I bet the water itself wasn't normal water but some type of holy spring…or water infused with potent qi.

My divine dragon gestured at the front of the moat, right before the coffin. My eyes widened when I saw what he was bringing my attention to.

A single crimson lotus swayed gently, half of its stalk plunged beneath the water.

"The Crimson Inferno Lotus," I whispered. So this was the herbal plant I needed to purge the toxins from Mu Rong Lao's body. Sensing the potent fiery yang qi that blazed from the Crimson Inferno Lotus, I could see why. The intense properties of the flower would burn away whatever poison was inside the Mu Rong family patriarch's veins.

All right…time to get it then.

I hopped across the scorched marble of the chamber, moving toward the moat. However, I didn't do so recklessly. While making my way across, I kept an eye out for any movement.

It was this caution that saved my life.

"Whoa!"

Fortunately, I caught sight of a massive claw slicing down at me from the side. Pivoting my foot, I hurled myself away, hitting the ground and rolling back to my feet. Even though I specialized in summoning techniques, I did my best to learn combat skills. Not that I had much success in it. Given the strenuous demands of learning summoning techniques, I didn't have the time or energy to explore other combat techniques in depth.

It was like trying to learn medicine and music at the same time. Or engineering and literature. It was immensely difficult. Perhaps geniuses could do it, but I was no genius. I was simply someone who put in a lot of effort and worked very hard.

That was why my family had dismissed me as useless. In their eyes, I was an average person and too "normal." They put all their heart and resources into nurturing my more talented brother. Unfortunately, the talent and attention all went to his head and he became arrogant and complacent as a result.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of supportive family members, so everything I did, I earned through sheer hard work alone. My divine dragon came to me because of sincerity and not because I was more talented than my brother or stronger. He appreciated the hard work I put into summoning techniques.

Which was why he answered my call now.

"I'm sorry. I'll need your help facing this monster." I was watching the Ifrit rear up and let loose a blazing bellow. Resembling a minotaur with a horned, demonic head, the Ifrit sported two massive bat wings, each the size of a car. Hooved feet left smoking craters in the ground, the heat emanating from its body so intense that the air shimmered around it. Flames ignited around its claws.

Snarling, the Ifrit charged at me.

My divine dragon met his charge head-on, his jaws snapping at the behemoth. Coiling his body around the massive creature, he bit and unleashed his own golden flames against the crimson inferno of the Ifrit.

While they wrestled, I didn't remain idle. I also charged forward, gathering my own qi into my body. Flanking the currently occupied Ifrit from the side, I then leaped up and kicked the damned thing in its face.

"Ugh?!"

My foot blistered within my smoking shoe and I jumped back a few steps, hissing in pain. The sheer heat pouring off the Ifrit was highly damaging to my relatively fragile body.

That wasn't the worst of it. I was forced to dive away when both my divine dragon and the minotaur crashed into the wall, dislodging debris and sending a shower of stone raining down on the ground. Cracks spread across the concrete as my divine dragon slammed the Ifrit against the wall, pawing at it with his claws.

The Ifrit responded by unfurling its wings and forcibly freeing itself from my divine dragon's coils. Seizing his neck with its claws, it smashed the divine dragon's head against the wall several times, almost nailing him into the structure.

My divine dragon lashed out with his tail and claws, drawing blood, but the Ifrit would not be stopped. While they wrestled desperately, I was running, seeking an alternative path of attack. Clearly my kick didn't work.

"There has to be something I can do…"

The thought was cut off when I was forced to dodge a massive piece of debris, which shattered against the ground. Then I had an idea.

Racing along the length of the chamber, I smashed apart a few of the grand pillars with calculated kicks. As the debris rained down, I whirled around and kicked them one by one, sending them flying across as deadly projectiles that crashed into the Ifrit.

Even though they were made of marble, the velocity at which I flung them was high enough to leave lasting damage on the staggering Ifrit. The behemoth spun around to roar at me, only for my divine dragon to lunge forward and bite its throat.

The winged monstrosity clutched at my divine dragon, desperately trying to dislodge its neck from his jaws, but my divine dragon stubbornly held, his tail wrapping around its waist to solidify his hold. Meanwhile, I picked up a long piece of debris from the pillar, which resembled a crooked staff. Better than nothing.

Infusing the broken marble with my qi, I sprinted forward before hurling the thing like a javelin. The jagged piece punched through the back of the Ifrit and pierced through its heart, dealing a mortal wound to it.

This was why I learned combat techniques. They might be the most basic and nothing fanciful, but all I needed was for them to augment my strength enough so that I could break walls and hurl stuff.

Fortunately, that was enough.

The Ifrit shuddered, and then my divine dragon triumphantly finished it off by ripping out its throat in a spray of blood and embers. I watched as the winged behemoth slumped down, dissolving into cinders that blazed for a moment before

flickering away.

Watching such a majestic beast suffer an ignominious death made me feel sorry for it.

"Phew…"

Letting out a breath of relief, I assessed my situation once more, just in case the tomb had another nasty surprise lying in wait. Fortunately, my fears proved unfounded and I proceeded toward the coffin and the moat it was lying in.

Glowing gently, the Crimson Inferno Lotus waited patiently for me to pluck it out of the water.