The squad of soldiers moved deeper into the mines. Everything became more silent, and they all had a bad feeling.
A feeling like someone was watching and would attack them at any time. Alex felt the same way and did not know what to do.
Was it his mind? Or could it be that something was preying on them? The last enemy they fought was a vampire, a creature of the night. It wouldn't be strange for it to be preying on them.
Other vampires did show up to fight against them. Alex dealt with the ones he could, while the captain and his soldiers dealt with the ones Alex did not have the capabilities to face.
But, even after killing said vampires, the feeling of being watched did not vanish. It gave them discomfort, and Alex did not know what to do. He was scared that something might show up out of nowhere, kill him, making him fail the mission and lose a level! That would be terrible.
'If I want to be successful and progress in this game, I need to take the risk. Keep your cool, Alex, this is only a game, and you went through hardships in real life.' Alex murmured.
That was the thought Alex tried to say to himself. It was his way of cooling down and thinking straight through the situation, looking for logical answers leading to a logical way out of that place and logically completing the quest.
"Adventurer," the captain whispered, "Did you notice the amount of vampires diminished? I don't feel good about this."
The captain had a point, but what could they do? They had to keep going and uncover the mystery as to why the beasts and now vampires went to the mines and attacked the humans there.
It was something causing discomfort for everyone, especially considering the mines were close to a city. What if the same thing happened there?
Alex looked into the captain's eyes and said, "I don't feel good about this either, but we must find out what is happening here for the city's sake!"
While the two talked, one of the soldiers was moving ahead of them. He was the squad's scout. He returned to the captain and said, "Captain, there's a strange door ahead of us. I don't remember something like that to be here."
Some of the soldiers in the squad had worked in the mines as guards for some time, but none remembered seeing that door there. Was it something they built recently?
They all stopped in front of the door, and Alex, just by seeing it, knew it wasn't a good thing.
The double door was massive, made of pure stone, and it had drawings of bats and a strange creature of the night that Alex assumed to be a vampire.
Alex did nothing and only watched the soldiers try to open the door. They were way more high-leveled than he was, so why should he be the one doing that? If shit happens, they would protect him, and not vice versa.
The captain and his soldiers tried everything possible to unlock the door, yet nothing happened. It was impossible to move, there was no hole to insert a key, and attacks on it looked futile and useless.
"Adventurer," the captain said, sighing, "Do you know how to open this?"
"I don't," Alex said honestly, "But I can try."
Just like the door was a mystery to all soldiers, it was also a mystery to Alex. There were no in-game notifications after he saw the door, so opening it was also a secret to him.
But it did not hurt to try. Alex moved toward the door and touched it to see if something happened. It did! He gapped his mouth in surprise, reading the notification before him.
[Shadow Lineage discovered.]
[Do you want to open the door?]
[Warning: Danger could be on the other side.]
Alex read it, and he had to open it despite the warning. That was the only way for him to complete his quest. It was the only place inside the mines they had yet to go.
He chose yes, and the moment he did, the door turned as light as a feather, and Alex quickly pushed it open, shocking all of the soldiers who could not understand how he had done that.
"You did it! How? Well, let us leave that for later. Soldiers, move!" the captain said.
They saw on the other side a vast stone chamber, just like the door. It had spider webs, dust, and old chandeliers.
At the center of the room lay a closed coffin. The captain moved first. Alex and the soldiers followed him.
"Everyone, keep your attention at all times. Danger could be near," the captain said.
The door behind them moved independently, sealing them inside the room! Not only that but the coffin's door was tossed toward the other side of the room! Panic quickly spread within the squad, and some soldiers screamed, "No, I don't want to die!"
Alex was not liking where the situation was going, and then a creature emerged from the coffin!
[Royal Vampire Mikkel (Boss)]
[Level 100 (Weakened State, current LEVEL 20]
A powerful vampire! It floated in the air, staring at them with red eyes resembling starvation! The vampire's robes were ragged, his skin was paler than usual, and he looked as skinny as a mummy.
His fangs were showing, and the long black claws on the vampire's hands caused fear to anyone who saw it.
The captain was calmer than the rest, "This is a powerful vampire, but it is weakened due to starvation. We can kill it!"
Alex felt like that too. The captain's level was high, and even the ordinary soldiers had a higher level than the vampire, who only had a level of 20 in the weakened state. That was a doable fight, or maybe it was not.
'I don't think they would put such an easy boss here… Something smells fishy.'
Mikkel stared at them, and his eyes turned into a different color; it went from red to amber!
"Petrifying Gaze!"
The NPCs were too slow to react and kept looking at the vampire's eyes, turning into stones immediately.
Alex was slow too, but a notification saved his life.
[Shadow Lineage resisted to Petrify]
But now, how would he win against that?