The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

23; The Catacombs.

The moment the stone doors closed, the hall they were in lit up like fireflies. They found themselves in a wide hallway with steps that descended into the faraway door. With a certain convenience of light provided by the torches placed within a few meters from each other, Lukas suddenly had a feeling that they were descending into the maws of a creature.

"So can I ask if we basically have become the cleanup crew?" the rogue nonchalantly questioned. His hands played with the dark knife before he walked to a statue beside him touching it with his fingers before flicking away the dust.

Under each torch, frescoes and small statues were placed directly in between. They featured gargoyles and mythical creatures all in various poses but the one thing they all had in common were the tears of dried blood, dark as night dripping down their ornate features, adding a sense of gloom and despair into the musty air.

"Regard it however you want but this is a Qualifying Mission" Geoff said as he heaved his large shield from behind and then settled himself in a combat pose. "We have to perform well if we hope to obtain higher grade in our adventurer's badge"

The Rogue slightly flicked his eyes on a certain direction. "I just feel that someone might lag us down. "

Lukas smiled. He wasn't going to take such obvious bait. Instead all he did was to wave his hand and a ball of light materialized in his hand. Flicking it upwards it shone above them like a beacon, illuminating such brightness that it chased away the shadows the torches on the walls seemed to cast.

The rogue face twitched. The half elf spoke as she also readied herself.

"I think it's a matter of convenience." She added as she hefted the bow to her hands, her voice like a lilting lullaby. "They are killing two birds in one. Since this dungeon is underground and it holds almost no promise of any kind of spoils after years of countless purges, no one in their right mind would bother choosing such a futile quest, without forgetting that this place is also connected to the underground trenches."

Lukas mused "So in giving us this mission they are getting rid of it and at the same time giving us our badges."

The rogue twitched as he focused right ahead "Well…at least our gold is assured" he deviously smiled as they started walking each one alert and ready for anything and everything.

The moment they walked through the door into the darkened passage ways the ball of Light Lukas had cast proved invaluable. It allowed them more than a modicum amount of sight and It also freed their hands to their weapons just in case they needed to respond in a heartbeat to danger.

Renesme the half elf muttered a few words under hear breath and to Lukas's surprise her once green tinted eyes now glowed. Fascinated by it, Renesme answered the very question that Lukas had in mind.

"A buff spell." she said "It's Called Clear Jade Eyes. It bestows sight in darkness"

Lukas's eyes glazed over in amazement. It was such a contingent spell that Lukas could practically see unlimited potential in it.

"Though it does have its limit; I can see no more than 100 meters in total darkness and I can't keep it up for long. It tires the eyes and over using it might lead to temporary or even permanent blindness. "

Lukas sobered up immediately "it's still a crucial spell."

"That it is." after preparing herself in advance she turned towards Lukas " I'm going a little in advance to scout for possible traps and dangers. This spell of mine will last only a few minutes so we might as well make use of it." She paused "Do be careful and try not to hold back the team after all…you are our weakest link"

What was meant as an advice came out extremely in grating in Lukas ears. He frowned; the little goodwill he had for the half-elf dissipating into nothingness. He could feel the pride she had in herself and it was that same pride that looked down on him too. But in the end he mused to himself. His cultivation was really low in comparison to everyone else that he couldn't even raise a word to it. All he had to care for was to make sure at the end of it, he comes out alive together with his makeshift team and the feeling he had felt at the beginning doesn't manifest in any way possible.

The rest of the team had no qualms letting Renesme scout ahead. She had such a convenient spell that none of them possessed as an equivalent in their repertoire of skills. They walked slowly under the bright light and seeing as Renesme didn't report trouble of any kind their speed increased slightly with Mira readying a fireball spell at the first notice of danger.

After a more than a few meters ahead, Lukas silently paused, looked around and then walked to the nearby crumbling wall. The rest of team noticing there were leaving the ball of light behind, stopped only to see Lukas beside a wall, with minute magic flaring in his hands. Curious Mira swiftly walked over and stared just as Lukas finished the last touches. A full formed rune flared a little before etching itself on the wall, leaving a darkened patch that slowly dimmed, making it hard to notice in at a first glance.

"What are doing?"Mira asked.

Lukas startled, realizing he was surrounded he shortly explained. "I am inscribing some detection runes."

"What for?" Geoff asked puzzled.

"In case of an ambush from behind us; they can act as a sentry, meant to warn us the moment we have unwanted guests." Lukas explained his face a little proud of his idea.

Geoff nodded in appreciation while the rogue not one to acknowledge the thought smirked." A little too paranoid, aren't we?" he added. "We are only facing some dumb beasts. They do not warrantee such extreme measures."

Geoff shook his head in consternation. "It never hurts being too careful and besides, if this part of the dungeon hasn't been cleared for a long time; we are still in danger of being way laid by their numbers. It would be inconvenient if we had to face such beasts in large numbers from the front while they attack us from behind. This can at least act as a warning sign, allowing us to prepare."

Rexsi had no words to add after such logic. He only shrugged before Geoff beckoned them to continue while Mira lagged behind.

"How does it work?" she asked. Lukas paused before he decided to explain in layman terms.

"They detect any kind of violent mana disturbance in the air before sending a small quick light pulse that can be immediately picked with my psyche. In this way I can perceive an early threat."

Mira's eyes shone in a silent marvel. "Then can it be possible to detect your enemies before you clash with them." she said.

"In contexts that's possible." Lukas said. "But I am far from it with my current strength as even now I need to form another sigil after every few meters to make sure they can trigger one another over a long distance. And as they are only in their basic form, I can only have a few sigils side by side and they can only remain for 30 minutes of the duration before they naturally dissipate."

Mira contemplated before she asked. "Are you a Rune Master then?" The moment she asked Lukas could feel a slight vibration passing through the whole team.

"Rune Master?" Lukas asked.

Mira nodded, "Rune Master. Basically they master runes for all kinds of intents and purposes. One of the hardest professions…"

Lukas could only shake his head in response. "I'm afraid not" he said not sure if he was right in doing so. The rest of them were visibly relieved. Apart from the fact that they had underestimated him to be the weakest but if it happened he was an Official Rune Master then they would have had to find a grave to dig for themselves in regret.

Basically amongst the many professions there is none a profession known to be hard yet so fulfilling like a Rune master. With their abilities to etch and comprehend runes, it was one of the most basic professions one needs to master to become an Enchanter, a Talismanic Master, a Formation Master or even an Artifact Refiner. Rune Masters were treasured and respected all over the continent since it is from their hands that a lots of artifacts from white grade to the famous crystal ranked ones were made, a lot of heaven grade formations protecting their sects and academies came from their abilities to protective talismans that basically granted second lives by offering various forms of protection by forming runic shields or offer unnatural spells to escape from moments of danger.

Sigils were just runes specialized in spell casting and though they knew Lukas had denied being a rune master (as it puzzled them he obviously had learnt sigils in the first place but seemed to not know what a Rune Master was), he had immediately increased his standing amongst them. Who wouldn't want to form a bond with a future rune master in making? Only boundless benefits exist to the ones who were lucky enough to do so.

It didn't take long for them to encounter their first demonic beast. They had passed halls and passage ways that seemed to meander deeper and deeper into the catacombs while Lukas grew even more proficient at drawing the detection runes on the passing walls. At most he could only keep five of them at a time meaning all of the previous ones disappeared the more runes he kept casting on their underground journey.

A scuffle and a swish reached their eyes under the still silence with a soft whining sound that stilled just as fast as it began. Walking in large strides they came in a small clearing and then saw Renesme standing beside a sizable corpse of what was the demonic beast Lukas was about to witness first hand.