Chapter 29
Walking along the path leading towards the dungeon's location, Gideon gave the item in his pocket a gentle squeeze, trying to reassure himself that his plan would work. Rhordan had spend most of the time heading to the dungeon smoothing the ruffled feathers of Aurelia whom ceaseless chirruped angrily at being take close to the dungeon, eventually Rhordan couldn't sooth the anxious bird and watched worryingly as Aurelia flew off into the trees.
They had met with the instructors and other adventurers early in the morning before heading out, taking a seemingly longer route than the shorter and more director path through the forest.
Conrad and Elisa had taken up the charge of leading this group, only instructing the adventurers when they were nearing the dungeon itself. The group itself consisted of various young adventurers, some that Gideon and Rhordan had seen before, though the vast majority were unknown to the pair. Altogether, they had nearly twenty in number, split into four groups of five that would work together as a team within the dungeon.
Gideon and Rhordan were teamed up with a caster, a warrior and a priestess. The caster had similar brown robes to Sophia, his staff had a light red uncut gem at the top. He had short light ginger hair and deep blue eyes, a somewhat pudgy exterior and a small gut that pressed against his robes. The warrior was almost identical to the mage except in almost full plate mail and a single standard sword, same hair and eye colour, the only difference was that he was taller and had a fitter frame.
The last member of their team was the priestess, an interesting girl as she looked to be far younger than Gideon and Rhordan, dressed head to toe in pure white robes with a few golden strips running through them. Her staff had an intricate design attached to the top in the pattern instead of gem, it resembled a bird taking flight. Her long blonde hair was tied back behind her head and her sparkling brown eyes shone with sparkling enthusiasm, out of the five of them, she was the most eager to explore the dungeon.
"Remember, as you are all between bronze and silver rank, you need to stick in your groups and stay close to one another." Conrad barked, not turning around as he marched onwards to the dungeon. Elisa took up the rear, ensuring none of those under their care got lost or were suddenly attacked by bandits. "The dungeon has many magical beasts that are drawn to it, you can grab a sizeable amount of magical cores, but you do so at you and your group's own peril."
The dungeon itself looked to be a large old mossy stone temple, a vine covered pyramid in the middle of the forest with a massive carving cut out of the centre that led to two immense stone doors. The doors loomed threateningly open before them, leading into a dark stone corridor that immediately went down a set of equally dark stone stairs. The light from outside barely illuminated inside the temple, its darkness seemed supernatural as a chilling shiver ran down everyone's spines.
"Alright, the first floor is the weakest, there is four corridors leading out from the main area, and each team will take one. The paths are essentially a labyrinth and can branch back into the same path as one of the routes from the four initial corridors, therefore if you run into another team, turn around and find another path. Your goal is to make your way to the teleport node leading to the second floor." Elisa and Conrad stood before them in front of the large stone doors, the teams had been arranged into their groups and stared respectfully at the instructors as they explained the first part of their expedition. "We will head to the first teleport and wait for you there! You all have two hours to make it to us or you go home."
"At each of the corners of the dungeon floor is an emergency exit in the first five floors, they will bring you back here. Only use them if you are injured or failed to reach the us in the allotted time. Good luck!" Conrad barked, suddenly disappearing with Elisa into the dungeon. The teams stood there for a second before they broke out into conversations, introducing themselves and coordinating a strategy, while there were some that arrogantly charged into the dungeon with their team reluctantly trailing behind.
"Alright, I'm Blockade and this is my younger brother Inferno. We're both of the mid bronze rank and of the novice rank." The red-haired warrior stated, standing before them with mock stoicism, taking charge of their group despite his lack of experience. Inferno nodded his head, offering a slightly chubby smile as he greeted them merrily. "I'm a front-line warrior that focuses on taking the attention of the monster, my brother has an array of fire spells to set the enemy on fire or control large groups of enemies."
"I am Helena, a priestess of the novice rank and aspiring to join the Holy Order." The woman in white proudly stated, uncaring that she had used her actual name rather than the adventurer's code names. She stood proudly and somehow created a slight golden glow around herself, smiling broadly at her ability. "I am proudly of the high bronze rank."
"Emerald, my twin brother Amethyst." The conversation turned to them, Gideon bluntly answered and then pointed Rhordan at her adventurer's name. His candour startled the others somewhat, especially the priestess as her smile slowly disappeared. "Front-line fast attacker and my brother is an archer. Both of the low silver rank."
The mood that had gradually turned sour until Gideon stated their adventurer rank, the other three looked among themselves before refusing to comment on Gideon's bluntness, or the fact that he didn't state his or Rhordan's physical or magical rank. It seemed as if the status of silver rank, even low silver, held a modicum of respect from those in the bronze rank.
"Good, we have a decent team, me and Emerald will take lead." Blockade stated, addressing the group while lowering his stoicism in from of the two silver rank adventurers. "Helena in the middle, Inferno and Amethyst at the back."
"Why must I be in the middle?" Helena exclaimed, clearly upset about being away from the action of fighting magical beasts. Blockade merely sighed, staring at the priestess with a subtle note of contempt in his eyes.
"Listen, a priestess has more healing capabilities than offensive or defensive, therefore we need you to focus on keeping us alive." Blockade had turned directly to her, ensuring she could see the irritated glare he was sending towards her. Helena showed no fear towards the larger warrior, openly huffing and returning his glare with an even greater intensity. "The safest place in a group is the middle, there you can focus on healing while we work on killing the magical beasts."
"And I care how?" Helena challenged Blockade, taking a daring step forward. Inferno tried to stop his older brother from causing a scene, though he was shoved to the side as Blockade glared down at Helena.
"Enough!" Gideon stepped forward and shoved both of them apart, glaring at each of them to try and argue once again. Turning his attention to Helena once he was sure they wouldn't try to strike one another while he spoke. "If a priestess doesn't heal or provide support, then what do you hope to gain by trying to take lead position?"
"A priestess has no fear, we have attack spells and should be the leading at the front as the Holy Order is second to none." Helena yelled, standing proudly and brandishing her staff as she puffed out her chest. There was a simultaneous groan sounded from all four of them, the brothers knew all too well of the arrogance of holy users while Gideon and Rhordan could only see the ego of the person before them.
"Can we run this as a four?" Gideon turned to Blockade, opting to just run the risk of not having a healer in their team rather than deal with Helena. The priestess thumped her foot in outrage as Blockade roared in laughter.
"I mean, it would be difficult, and we would have to take extra precaution… but it wouldn't be impossible." Blockade pondered aloud, irking Helena to no end as she realised that they would willingly leave her behind.
"Wait! Fine! Let's just go." Helena relented, the determination in the eyes of Blockade and Emerald to go without her had her swallowing her pride. She glared at the two who sniggered slightly before following on behind them towards the large stone doors.
Entering into the dungeon, the group got into their arranged formations with Blockade standing just in front of Gideon, Helena behind them with Amethyst and Inferno side by side at the back. Descending the stairs, the eerie darkness caused a shiver to run down their spines, the dim light and dark grey stone walls expanding before them lifelessly.
Only two of the other teams had gone before them, the last one stayed behind to argue over who should go where in their positioning. One of the teams that had gone before them had to chase after their team member when they arrogantly stormed into the dungeon, a stunt that proved fatal when they ran into their first magical beast.
Rhordan shuddered as they passed by the group struggling to save their arrogant team member while fending off a group of lizard like goblins. They wore crude armour and wielded shoddy weapons, their extended snouts were filled with rotten teeth and their black soulless eyes stared hungrily at the group they were facing.
"Kobolds, nasty critters." Blockade grunted, gazing distastefully at the three kobolds attacking a group of five. Shaking his head, he headed towards one of the remaining two tunnels left unmarked, opting for the far-right hand tunnel. The instructors had told them to leave a scrap of cloth outside the tunnel they had chosen for their team, this was to ensure no team accidentally went down the same route. "Stick together and call out anything suspicious."
They cautiously travelled down the tunnel, only occasionally coming across the odd pack of kobolds, their tactic followed Blockade drawing the attention of the monster before Inferno and Amethyst took them out one by one. Gideon would keep to the shadows and focus on taking out any long-ranged opponents that might threaten their team or keep a look out for any new threats that might crop up during the fight.
To Helena's claim, she had a few good spells that dealt with kobolds easily though the casting time required meant the fight was almost over before she threw the bright ball of golden light. However, her healing abilities were stunning as the bright golden light would encompass Blockade, his wounds would slowly piece together as the light enveloped them.
It was only about half an hour in that they face their first magical beast, two large rats coated in patches of what looked to be iron. The magical rats hadn't noticed them yet, but with their size and being located in the middle of the path meant it wouldn't be possible for them to go around. They did have the option of going back and using one of the side tunnels branching off from the main tunnel, though that would defeat the purpose of training in the dungeon.
"Shredder rats, novice ranked magical beast of the metal element." Inferno listed off the magical beast's information as if he were reciting it from a book, he offered a meek smile when Rhordan strangely stared at him. "What? It's a caster duty to know about magical beasts."
"Weaknesses?" Blockade demanded, ignoring the one-way conversation between Inferno and Amethyst. He knew that rushing in would be dangerous, one mistake could be the end of any one of them.
"Why should we care about it's weakness?" Helena looked appalled at them, her arrogance raising its ugly head after their recent successes against the kobold. She looked ready to charge in and tackle the two rats by herself when Blockade held his sword in front of her, daring her to try his patience.
"Magical beasts are difficult to fight against even with magic, they are stronger than us. We make one mistake at our rank, we won't need to worry about making it to the second floor." Blockade lowered his sword, turning around to face the two rats ambling around the tunnel, readying himself for the fight. "Inferno, weaknesses?"
"Shredder rats are fast and durable, they can take a hit and have claws of iron so their offense is pretty formidable." Inferno listed its strengths, ensuring that the team knew what to avoid. "Metal element has little weaknesses, though shredder rats are afraid of fire. Only weakness for a shredder rat is having a stronger blade or a high-powered spell, alternatively you can…"
Before Inferno could run through his longwinded speech on the shredder rat, Rhordan loosed an arrow directly into the eye of the first rat, the arrow burying deep as the rat squealed in anguish. Just as suddenly as Rhordan's attack was, Gideon appeared from the shadows with blades glowing a faint green, he sliced clean through the throat of the second before finishing off the first with his other blade. Blockade, Inferno, and Helena all stood there with jaws open, dumbfounded at the sudden efficiency and mercilessness of the pair.
"What? You were taking too long." Rhordan shrugged before joining Gideon, he had cut out the two cores and was in the process of cleaning them when they all crowded around him. Holding out two clean intact cores, he stared at Blockade, unsure of what happens next.
"You two got the kill, you keep the reward." Blockade shook his head, he didn't know to argue against them after that quick and perfect set of moves without a single word spoken between them. As for the rewards found in the dungeon, it was normally decided upon who had contributed the most effort to bring down the monster. If there happened to be enough to go around then they would split it evenly, or the more effective method was to use a rota system where they go round the team one at a time.
Helena opened her mouth to raise an objection, though taking one last look to the corpses of the rats, she reluctantly closed it. Though she was arrogant and thick skulled, she knew that it would be unfair to ask for something she hadn't earned.
The team focused on moving forward, making their way to the teleport system leading to the second floor. They encountered more and more shredder rats, kobolds, and even the occasional hellboar. The first hellboar they came across had nearly sent them running in the opposite direction, their mage was of the fire element and that made him effectively useless against it. Helena had tried to use one of her holy spells, however the long cast time and the constant need to dodge the hellboar's attack made it difficult for her to cast one.
Just as Blockade was about to call for a retreat after they all just managed to dodge is major fireball attack, Rhordan nailed a lucky shot straight into its eye, stunning it temporarily. With the first shot not working, she nodded to Gideon who kited the hellboar long enough for it to cast its most powerful attack again. The second arrow to the other eye sealed its fate, as was the now partially singed Gideon who had barely dodged the attack in time.
Continuing onwards, they were met with a divided path, one tunnel leading left, the other right.
"We should go left." Blockade stated, he started marching towards it when Helena thumped her foot in defiance.
"We should go right!" Helena exclaimed, it wasn't made clear if she had an inkling of the correct path, or if she just wanted to openly defy Blockade at every turn. Gideon and Rhordan crossed the T junction and leant against the wall, opting to let them battle it out rather than wade in. They were only an hour into the two-hour time limit, they could afford a short break to let the two vent some steam before carrying onwards.
As they waited, Rhordan noticed strange glyphs on the wall behind her, she had been occasionally casting her sight to one of the two tunnels, staying on guard with Gideon since the other three were nowhere near aware enough to notice anything other than themselves. The glyphs, ones that she now remembers seeing written across each tunnel that branched off from the main one, didn't have any of the same markings or distinctions as the ones that Chrysanthis taught her. Taking out a few pieces of paper, she set about copying the glyphs, determined to make use of her time other than watching the warrior and priest argue.
Gideon silently took over watch duty to allow her to work, carefully watching both tunnels while checking over his backpack and the few magical cores they earned. After the two shredder rats they killed on their own, the rewards got evenly distributed after Gideon refused to accept another shredder rat core until they all got something out of expedition, though he found it hard to refuse Blockade when it came to the hellboar's core.
Rhordan found a strange similarity to the glyphs on the walls of the dungeon that reminded her of the book Baltharn had given them that she had to leave at the inn, for whatever reason Gideon had for leaving it baffled her. The other copy they had found didn't have that much difference from the first, it retold the story of the Arc Mage with different names for the disciples and locations. A retelling of the same story under a different name, it was weird since plagiarism shouldn't be much of a widespread issue in the new world, though she could understand if some people had a difference of opinion and wanted to state it for the world to know their version.
The notes she had copied were mainly gibberish for the most part, talking about how locations and reference points had changed over time, that the clues to find the tomb laid in the many stories surrounding the Arc Mage. However, they couldn't find any code or discrepancies that could explain their theory, and after many failed attempts, the only logical and remaining place available was the dead lands.
Rhordan couldn't argue with the woman's reason for her deduction as the dead lands was the site for a major magical catastrophe according to her, and that only someone of the Arc Mage's ability could cause such an event with their last breath, yet the woman had too many gaps in her findings to prove anything. The woman had opted for a more theoretical and opinionated approach rather than search for proof, throwing together conjectures and contradictions in the hope that her madness could yield results.
However, there was one part that she failed to explain, the old language that the Arc Mage supposedly used despite living in roughly the same period of time where the common written language was the same as it is today, though Rhordan wasn't sure of that fact, other than doubting that someone who existed in the last thousand years would have a vastly different language than that of the common tongue. Though Rhordan did suspect a foreign language at play here, but it had to one that no one on this entire landmass had ever heard before for endless academics and researchers to not know of it, yet that fact's only evidence lied in the supposedly trustworthy words of Baltharn.
The findings of the majority of the researchers believed it was an ancient language that the Arc Mage knew and used in his spells, others thought them to be long forgotten runes, or a convoluted metric system simplified into symbols. In the end, no one could conclusively determine what they mean, however, they closely resembled the ones currently emblazoned on the walls of the dungeon.
Copying the symbols on the walls into her journal, Rhordan decided that if she could compare them to her notes and the second story of the Arc Mage then she could possibly find a connection that might reveal their purpose. Yet something irked her, staring at the symbols, she couldn't help but feel a yearning deep inside tug her towards them, as if they were calling out to her in some form of silently siren's song.
Acting out of pure instinct, she raised her hand and painstakingly slowly placed her palm against them. At first she felt nothing except a glaring notion that she was making a fool of herself, just before she gave up and returned to the bickering pair, she felt a dull hum emanating from wall.
She couldn't quite describe the power hidden within the symbols, yet she felt a somewhat strong connection to them. As if their meaning was hidden at the far edges of her mind, outside of her reach or understanding, but close enough that she sense their meagre presence. Shaking herself free of the welling frustration boring a hole inside her at her inability to know what piece of information her own mind was keeping from her, she refocused her attention to the symbols and the wall.
Her previous notion of how weak the symbols and the dungeon was immediate got thrown out the window as she finally felt a colossal amount of mana surging through the symbols, the hum vibrated the walls of the dungeon to such an extent that she was surprised that it hadn't shook itself apart, or that the others couldn't feel it or sense it.
An abrupt surge of energy separated from the conduit behind the wall and zapped through her hand, temporarily shocking her mind and causing her to winch violently at its abrupt intrusion of her mind, her actions startled Gideon from his seated position. He stared worriedly at her before noticing her palm against the wall, instead of calling out to her, he stood at the ready to intercede if the need arose. Trusting her to handle whatever it was she was facing.
The surge had arrived as quicky as it had disappeared, leaving a slight burning sensation in her mind that somehow didn't hurt. Focusing on the burning sensation, she suddenly found new information in her mind, an intricately detailed map of the labyrinth. The glyphs had transferred a copy of the map of not only the first floor, but the first five floors of the dungeon. Each as detailed as the last, giving her a perfect road map as well as finally knowing their exact location.
"We need to head back, the third tunnel we passed on the left should be better than these two." Rhordan called out, trying her best to hide the fact that she had just gotten a perfect map to the labyrinth that no one in the entirety of Bardia had, and she knew that they had managed to take the only tunnel that led far away from the portal to the second floor.
The others had tried to argue with her until Gideon started marching back the way they came, glaring at anyone who tried protest against his brother's claim. Rhordan quickly caught up beside him after stumbling a little after the mind shock, Gideon trusted her despite not knowing whatever had happened between her and the wall, opting to following her directions implicitly and without question.
"Those glyphs on the walls are connected to the dungeon itself, like they are… alive…" Rhordan whispered to Gideon, careful to not be overheard by the other three who grumpily trudged along behind them after they floundered like fish at the suddenness of the change of direction. "They gave me a floor map of the first five levels."
"Anything on the blocked off area?" Gideon asked directly, a blooming hope in his heart as he subtly clenched the mysterious item in his pocket. He wanted to ask after her wellbeing first, to know that she was alright rather than skipping to business first, but he had to trust that she was alright and focus on enacting his plan, any distraction now could cost them greatly.
"Yeah, it looks to cover a larger section than we previously thought, there are many tunnels and a few open areas." Examining the map revealed an area cut off from the other areas, it even showed on the map where the cave in started and ended. Focusing on the supposed location leading from the second floor to the first, she found a tiny gap that would be barely wide enough for them to fit through. "There is a way to it, though it will be extremely difficult to not only reach but pass through it with our backpacks."
"Bad?" Gideon curtly asked, casting his eye over to the three behind them. Him and Rhordan had taken the lead through the path they had recently cleared meaning there wasn't anything they needed to worry about, but Gideon refused to let his guard down for even a second.
"Not really, remember training drill seven?" During their training as titans, Robin had made it a point to make sure that they were prepared for any occurrence, that included getting to a high up position with little to no direct path. Training drill seven had them rescuing a dummy from a fake tower, there was only one way in and that was nearly halfway up the building. With the tower on fire, and parts of it crumbling, it gave them little to no direct way to get to the entry point other than an extremely narrow and difficult path.
Although three of them could effectively fly, for that mission they had to get to it with using any of their abilities. To date, only Robin and Garfield had successfully completed the mission, Cyborg came close while Starfire and Raven struggled to not use their flight. It wasn't that the girls didn't have the skill to complete the training mission, rather they had grown so accustom to using their powers of flight that trying to work without them tripped them up occasionally. Cyborg on the other hand had the difficulty of his wide frame, and Robin refused to relent on the size of the path just for his benefit.
"Alright, once we get to the second floor, I need you to guide us close to it but not the actual location." Gideon exhaled a breath that he hadn't realised he was holding, his plan had way too many variables that he couldn't account for, and this one was his most problematic. If they couldn't find the entrance to the first floor through the second, then his plan would fall apart before it had a chance to start however with the map, that problem no longer mattered. Rhordan stared at him exasperatingly, a tinge of hurt and sadness in her heart.
"Can you tell me what you have planned?" Rhordan knew that she had already promised to wait until after, but things weren't adding up and she couldn't figure his plan out. She was slowly feeling as if he didn't trust her, that he didn't think he could confide in her when all they had was each other.
"Not yet, though what I can tell you is that I have been planning this for a week." Gideon hated keeping this from her, the last week had been torture keeping her in the dark, but he had no choice. They only had one chance of success and if that slipped away from one careless mistake on his part, he would never be able to look Rhordan in the eyes ever again. That said, he needed Rhordan to be in the dark about his plan, her honest reactions to everyone around them would dissuade them from realising what he had planned.
Rhordan thought hard on his words, trying to understand how he could have been preparing for something that they didn't know about until the day before. They had no time to think before they were thrusted into the dungeon, given no room to… Rhordan's mind suddenly clicked. The conversation a week before, one where Gideon had accidently and indirectly let slip about the caved in area.
"You don't think that…" Rhordan looked at him, baffled at how he could suspect the gentle lumbering giant of what he was accusing him off, it didn't seem possible. Gideon passed her a sympathetic look, conveying the reason why he hadn't told her the plan, that he didn't know if their conversations were being listened in on or to what extend the behemoth was involved with Baltharn. However, she started to realise why he was keeping her in the dark, she had many casual conversations with the inn keeper, and if she suspected him of working for their enemy then she might be reluctant to talk with him which might cause suspicion to fall on them.
"Hey, Blockade. Me and my brother are new around these parts, do these types of training events happen often?" Gideon knew that he would need far more than a single incident and several coincidences that could be easily explained, he needed to find a glaring hole in the façade that had been constructed around them to break through it.
"HAHAHAHAHAH!" Blockade erupted into laughter, he was soon joined by Inferno, though Helena remained eerily quiet. The two brothers laughed for a while before managing to calm themselves enough to answer Gideon's question. "No! This is a once in a lifetime chance that many coppers would kill for, the only other time that I heard of something like this happening was a year ago when they took an excursion to the borders of the dead lands."
Gideon passed a glance to Rhordan, he himself didn't think that the glaring hole he was looking for would be this large, but he had already made his mind up. It was Rhordan that he had to convince, to prove to her that he wasn't rambling nonsense and planning an insane idea that could get them killed, or worse.
"I'll follow along… for now…" Rhordan had wanted to disprove his asinine delusions, that he was seeing things that weren't there, though even she couldn't explain the coincidence between that one conversation and suddenly being sent to the dungeon not a week later. That said, she didn't fully believe him, not yet anyway. "But, you will tell me everything once this is over."
"Don't worry, you aren't the only person that I need to explain things to." Gideon grumpily admitted, remembering the person he had asked for a favour, he knew that they would never be content with what he had given them. Once his plan succeeded, he was sure he would have to talk until his tongue fell out, though if they did succeed then he wouldn't care if it did.
Following Rhordan's directions, and with a little bit of assistance from Gideon to hide the fact that she knew the exact route to the teleportation pad, they became the first group to arrive at the rendezvous point. Conrad and Elisa were surprised at their speed, expecting them to take at least the full two hours rather than one and half, it was a feat that surprised even Blockade and Inferno who had frequented this dungeon before despite being unable to actually find the correct path after then number of times they had explored it.
Waiting for the other groups, they spoke about the various low ranked magical beasts they came across, on the tactics they had used to counter and kill them. Using the conversation to calm their frayed nerves, fear burning their blood and demanding them to leave rather than forge ahead. The difficulty of the second and third floors wasn't much more than the first, only an increased number of facing off against the same magical beasts and better equipped kobolds, but the true terror of them lied in the chance to encounter an apprentice rank magical beast.
They had found out after their first secret mission for Baltharn that dire wolves were novice rank magical beasts that can evolve to the apprentice rank and gain a magical core, making them insanely tricky to handle, especially in a group. The three they faced were all novice rank to their luck, however the Steel Lion wasn't, that was an apprentice rank magical beast. Its power and abilities showed as it easily fought off the three wolves, its armour and magical abilities made it a formidable opponent though an arrogant one as it had fell to the wolves.
Running into a novice rank magical beast was already a challenge for their team, but to go against something far stronger in the enclosed spaces of the dungeon was practically suicide. Without the help of instructors to take care of them, they wouldn't last long in the second floor without an extreme amount of good fortune.
As the time limit ran out, the second and third group managed to arrive with a few minutes to spare, the fourth group didn't make it, where they were and what state they were in was unknown. Though, out of the three teams that had arrived, two adventurers had died, one from the second and the other from the third. It was a chilling reality of their situation, that at any moment they could die unexpectantly, trying to make life better for oneself by challenging the danger of the dungeon.
"When entering the second floor, we will be grouped together. Each team will take turns leading the group, if an apprentice rank magical beast appears then get out of the way." Conrad grunted, his commanding glare silencing any protests from the adventurers. "As Blockade's team arrived first, they will take lead, then Brax's group, and finally Jasmine's group."
Conrad had named the teams by their lead warrior, a curious notion though one that was understandable to the pair. The warrior was the one that had to stand face to face with the magical beast while the rest of them could keep their distance. Adventurers' like Gideon did also stand face to face with the beasts, yet they could retreat from fray before reengaging at a different point, a warrior didn't have that luxury as they were stood between the beast and the rest of the team.
The teleport room was rather peculiar, it had captivated Rhordan a while ago and she lost herself in gazing merrily at the circular room filled with the same glyphs as before. At the centre stood a large glowing blue rod that reached the ceiling, it was made out of a weird stone like crystal that pulsed occasionally. Rhordan had thought against copying the glyphs in front of the others, however she couldn't pass up the opportunity to record and study them.
By the time the other teams had arrived, she had copied down more than half of the room. She thought she could power through the remaining parts when Conrad and Elisa suddenly gave them a break, allowing them to rest and recover from their first stint in the dungeon. When her group had arrived, it was almost painfully obvious that the two of them were bored of waiting in the dungeon and wanted to get this event over with as soon as they could. Yet, when they noticed her copying the glyphs, they abruptly became very patient and tried to not make it look like they were giving her time to finish her work.
When Rhordan put away her pieces of paper, had Conrad started barking out orders, commanding them into line and informing them of the plan to tackle the second floor. Gideon and Rhordan shared a look of worry, they knew that this trip had to be orchestrated by Baltharn, but they didn't think that Conrad and Elisa were in on it, a deeply saddening thought as they both liked the instructors.
Placing his hand against the large blue stone in the centre of the room, Conrad suddenly glowed as bright blue as the pillar before disappearing. A stunning display of light followed as Elisa disappeared as well, leaving the adventurers' stunned for a second before one by one they each touched the stone. The sensation of teleportation was completely foreign to Rhordan, despite her previous ability to create portals, this felt as if a surge of energy coated them before suddenly tearing them through the floor down to the second floor.
Conrad and Elisa stood before them as they all arrived in a similar circular room as the first teleportation room, the same blue crystal pulsing in the centre. The instructors had to pull them away from the stone before the next person arrived, it wasn't that there was any danger, rather the device wouldn't bring the next person in if there was something obstructing it.
With the teams lined up, the instructors spaced apart with Conrad near the front and Elisa taking up the rear, they set off into the second floor, a near replica of the first in design and gloominess. Blockade took point with Gideon following along from the edges, Helena in the middle and Inferno and Rhordan at the rear. Gideon and Rhordan had managed to work out a system where she could direct the group despite being at the back by twirling an arrow in her hand, if she wanted them to go left then she would spin the arrow to the left and the same for going right, forwards was simply her stopping the twirling and notching the arrow for a few seconds as a supposed response to hearing something the dungeon before returning to her twirling.
It was difficult going at first, Gideon had to somehow keep an eye on Rhordan and watch out for magical beasts, a feat he managed to work out after a few wrong turns. The other adventurers had been sniggering about how lucky their team had been for coming first, that was until they witnessed the efficiency of their team in action. After Gideon and Rhordan had shown off their skills, the other three refused to be carried by them through the dungeon. Improving their teamwork, they took to fighting seriously and alerting one another on their moves or actions, coordinating through a seemingly broken worded system.
When the next team took over, they relished in the break as the magical beasts and kobold rose in numbers from only a few to a handful, to groups of seven or eight kobolds would charge at the leading team, that or four or five magical beasts of the novice rank. The difficulty rose as one would expect from descending a dungeon, giving them a decent understanding that with each floor they passed, the harder it would be to survive.
The next team followed a similar route to the one that Gideon and Rhordan had carved out, though they didn't go exactly where they wanted them to go, they still got them closer to their goal.
Travelling through the tunnels there wasn't much in the way of threats of the apprentice rank, it seemed as if they had luck on their side. Yet, none of them could lower their guard for a second, the chance of running into one was still prevalent. Even Conrad and Elisa were growing worried that they hadn't ran into an apprentice rank magical beast, sure the chances are low on the second floor, but that chance rose with larger sized groups.
With the third group at the front, they turned a corner into a crossroads, calling the procession to a halt as they group couldn't decide which way to go. Their argument carried on for far longer than it should have but it was cut abruptly short when a sudden vicious roar echoed from the tunnels behind them, causing Elisa to whip herself around to face the threat.
A giant shadow loomed in the gloominess, stalking forward ever so slowly towards the group. The moment it reached the light, a collective grasp escaped from those that knew the magical beast index by heart. The lumbering behemoth prowling towards them was just over two metres tall, a coat of beautifully light blue fur and shards of ice protruding from its back and joints. Its feline head had two huge ice fangs jutting out of its jaw, its sparkling ice blue feline eyes glaring at them with a predatory hunger.
"That's… that's… that's an Ice Spine Panther…" Inferno trembled in fear as the other adventurers suddenly dawned on the threat before them, Elisa and Conrad shared a worried look, unable to convey actual words of the threat that the magical beast before them posed. "That is a knight rank magical beast!"
The moment the words left Inferno's lips, chaos ensued, screams of terror and horrified looks crossed over each of their faces, as well as a few emptying their bowels from fear of the monster before them. The Ice Spine Panther before them hungrily lick its lips, drawing ever close to the group.
"Don't panic! Stay together and…" Conrad had tried to say after rushing to Elisa's side, but he was cut short as the monster before him let loose another blood curdling roar, sending spine chilling terror through all of the low ranked adventurers. Within seconds, they bolted in any direction they could, taking which ever tunnel nearest to them in the crossroads. The Ice Spine Panther effortlessly leapt over Elisa and Conrad, landing in the middle of the scattering group of adventurers, intent on slaughtering them mercilessly.
Gideon had spared not a second thought once he heard it was a knight rank magical beast, he grabbed Rhordan's hand and drag her over to the side of the tunnel, waiting for the pandemonium to erupt before he made his move. He wasn't exactly expecting this to happen, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to take full advantage of it. When the adventurers bolted away from the beast, he and Rhordan darted down the tunnel to the left, heading towards their desired location.
Many of the adventurers in front of them ran without thinking, trying to flee as best as they could. Yet, they failed to remember that there were other magical beasts lurking about as they ran head first into groups of them, viciously mauled or killed with a single blow, adventurers dropped like flies. Their minds addled with fear and thoughts of escape dampened their combat abilities and cognitive thought processes, fighting against even a beast that they should have had little trouble against became drastically harder.
With Rhordan navigating, Gideon took point and effortlessly swiped at any magical beast or kobold that got in their way, not intending to actually kill them, rather dissuade them from pursing them. If they could avoid them then they would, taking a different tunnel around the obstacle before continuing onwards to their goal.
They ran fervently towards the location of the tunnel, ignoring the screams echoing from the tunnel behind them as adventurers died from one magical beast or another. It hurt to leave them to the fate of the magical beasts, knowing they could at least save some of them from the painful deaths as they ran mindlessly from the knight rank magical beast. Though their skills and abilities were lacking, they had experience corralling civilians away from the danger, leading them towards the edge of the dungeon to the emergency exits.
To call themselves titans and not uphold their values was the greatest betrayal they knew of, one that hardened their hearts as they ran with their heads held in shame. Then a glimmering light broke through their disgrace, a light that showed them how civilians must have felt running from supervillains, powerless to do anything and too afraid for their own safety that they could only look back and apologise. This world was no different from their own, though instead of being heroes, they were now civilians running away and leaving those with power to fight the monsters.
Rounding another corner, they pressed onwards, determined to become strong and return to the heroes they once were, engraving this shame in their minds as a reminder of what it was to be powerless. They vowed to regain their honour and integrity of the titan's name, otherwise if they ever manage to find a way home, they could never call themselves titans ever again.
They were close to the final stretch, not more than a league away from where they needed to be to gain access to the first floor when Gideon was suddenly thrown harshly against a wall. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of him, causing him to wheeze and cough harshly. Rhordan wheeled around to face the only logical place that the threat could have come from, finding the one person she least expected to suddenly attack them.
There, standing as arrogantly as ever, was Helena the priestess, a vicious sneer carved into her face as her staff slowly lost its glow. Notching her bow, Rhordan didn't know if she could actually fire a bolt at another living being, her hesitance costed her greatly as a sudden glow wrenched the bow from her hands, snapping it like a twig.
"You two are tricky, haha…" Helena's dark grin grew impossibly wider, the thrill of the hunt roaring in her eyes as she hungrily glared at the pair, a slight predatorial glint shining threw her eyes. "Bally told me to be careful of you two, to not underestimate you both. Hmph! And here I was thinking that he was just overstating your skill. You used that stupid beast's arrival to bolt, yet you didn't mask your magical trail, hahahaha!"
Magical trail, the term felt foreign to the pair and yet they knew what it meant, any source of power would always leave some kind of evidence that it was there, and if you're trained to specifically look for it then you could always find it. A cold chill ran down Rhordan's spine as Helena stalked forward, her already dark expression took a far more blood thirsty turn. Her previous thoughts of leaving the other adventurers to their fate felt overstated as she stared at the looming death before her, a part of her knew that if this person was hiding their identity, then they were assuredly hiding their power as well.
"My mission was to escort you to the third floor, then ensure you got seriously mauled by some low ranked monster attack. I had to ensure that at the very least one of you survived." Helena's blood thirsty look shone with a brightness that stilled Rhordan's heart, she felt like she was staring death in the face, unable to look away or even blink. "But then you started being all skilled and efficient, proving yourself capable in front of those two brothers, it's a shame that you did that because now I have to kill them otherwise no one would believe two highly skilled adventurers got themselves killed to some low ranked monster."
Standing before Rhordan, Helena smiled sweetly as she caressed Rhordan's face, her hungry eyes crying out for blood. Rhordan felt her blood freeze over, staring into the gleeful eyes of this monster, she knew that it was her that would be killed while Gideon would be brought back as the trophy. She couldn't imagine the torment or pain he would have to endure from this evil creature, to stand before everyone and lie that he failed to protect her, that he was useless.
A growing hatred bloomed in her heart, Rhordan absolutely refused to go quietly, she wanted to deal as much damage to this priestess as she could. Her hope was to give Gideon the opportunity to flee, praying that at least one of them could make it out without suffering damnation at the hands of these fiends. Yet, when she tried to lift her hand to use any amount of magical power against Helena, she couldn't move. Standing stock still, staring at death itself, helpless.
"Oh? You're a fighter aren't you?" Helena cooed, loving the look of defiance growing in Rhordan's eyes, leaning in close to enjoy the hatred she glared at her. "That feeling of terror, making it impossible for you to move, is killer intent. It's a powerful ability reserved by those that have killed countless human lives, anyone under its effect cannot even blink, let alone use their magical power."
"You sure about that?" A grunt sounded out behind them, Gideon was on his feet, glaring death at Helena. He stood shakily, more from the sudden impact rather than the killer intent emanating from Helena.
"You two really are full of surprises, to think you can resist my killer intent… only a little, HAHAHAHA" Helena roared, she knew that Gideon couldn't move quickly or even use his magic, trapped under the effects of her murderous passive ability that she gained from slaughtering countless helpless innocents.
"Ha! Hahahha!" Gideon slowly started to laugh, confusing the priestess out of her cheer to stare baffled at the insane green-eyed boy. Even Rhordan didn't know what was going on in his mind, a part of her thought he had lost it or that he suffered a head injury from the attack. Suddenly, Gideon smiled brightly at the priestess, victory shining in his eyes. "For someone so arrogant, you really are an idiot to think that I didn't come prepared!"
Time slowed to a grinding halt, every happened so fast that it was in slow motion. Gideon wrenched some weird red gemstone from his pocket and flung it directly at Helena, the moment it left his hand, he sprinted maddeningly for Rhordan. Within a split second, he had managed to grab her and threw her to the ground, covering her with his body. At the exact same time, realisation dawned in Helena's eyes as the red gem flying towards started to burst with bright red light.
Helena could do nothing as the gem shattered, the bright red light suddenly transforming into a massive fiery explosion, throwing her hundreds of feet through the air. She slammed hard against one of the walls of the dungeon, her head cracking harshly before she blacked out instantly. The explosion had happened so quickly that with the split second that it had erupted, it disappeared, leaving behind nothing but thunderous echoes, scorch marks and a faint smell of burning flesh.
Deafened and slightly singed, Rhordan hastily spun around to help Gideon. She was expecting him to be in agony, or at least heavily burned, but what she found shocked her. Knelt above her, was the wildly grinning fool without a single mark on him, untouched by the explosion. Her confusion evident in her eyes as Gideon laughed happily, clearly enjoying the fact that he was impervious to the flames, or that he caused the explosion. Rhordan wasn't exactly sure.
"Thought that idiot was kidding when he said it wouldn't harm the one who powered it." Gideon voiced the reason for his laughter, causing a shock to spike through Rhordan. He had thrown himself on top of her despite know that he could have easily been killed by such an explosion, that the gem's magic wouldn't have spared him. "Come on, that explosion is bound to have attracted the beasts in the area, and most likely the instructors."
Hauling her to her feet, Gideon just grinned madly as he set off in the direction they were heading in before, uncaring to go and check if the priestess was alive or dead. Rhordan stumbled along behind him, her mind in turmoil, unable to think rationally about what had just happened. Then, she knew the right words to say.
"YOU IDIOT!" Rhordan roared with fury, catching up to him and smacking him in the back of the head. Gideon couldn't stop himself from crying out with laughter, loving her previous expressions of astonishment and surprise.
They travelled for a few minutes before Rhordan's mind was brought back to the words of the priestess, their magical trail. She grabbed hold of Gideon's backpack, using it as a reference guide to follow while she closed her eyes. Focusing her magical sense, she intently looked around the two of them, searching for whatever it could be that Helena had used to follow them.
A few trial and errors in her search yielded what she was looking for, trailing just behind them was a faint trickle of green and purple light. It wasn't enough for someone to accidentally sense or be able to see unless they were actively looking for it. Trying to contain that trickle of energy failed, no matter what she did with her mana, it would continuously leak out.
A sudden thought leapt to mind, one from their time using the guild residences. Gideon had used his mana to encompass and suffocate the magic of objects, a highly taxing ability but a useful tool. Applying this logic, she coated her body in her mana, focusing on suffocating her own magical power. It took a few tries to fully block out the leak of mana, cutting out the magical trail she left behind, however it used a considerable amount of mana to encompass her whole body.
"Gideon, use your suppression orb on yourself, it should kill off any magical trail we leave behind." Rhordan quickly voiced her findings to him, monitoring his progress as he followed her instructions without question. His first attempt didn't work, and he quickly adjusted, focusing on smothering his entire body, it was on his fourth try he finally managed succeed. "You got it, now they can't follow us."
"How far are we from the tunnel to the first floor? I doubt we will be able to hold this for long." Gideon voiced both of their worries as suppressing their magical trail took more effort and mana than they currently had, putting a time limit on their plan.
"Not far, the next right and straight down the tunnel to the end." Rhordan called out, a dull ache appearing in her mind as she continued to expend her mana. She pushed the pain and the tiredness out of her mind, determined to get as much distance from Helena as possible. "Once we are through the tunnel, they won't be able to follow us anymore."
Pressing onwards, they rounded the final right and sprinted down the corridor, worried that they would lose the battle between them reaching the gap in the ceiling and their mana running out. The few magical beasts in the corridor before them didn't even react to them running past, as if they weren't there, though neither of the pair noticed this nor cared to investigate if they had. They put all remaining thought process into making it to the tunnel before their mana ran out.
Dashing into an opened room, one that expanded out in rectangle around what looked to be a partially destroyed statue. The statue had no identifiable markers, not even the gap that connected to the first floor was visible from the ground, though that didn't stop the pair. They immediately climbed the gigantic statue, scrambling up its part smooth and part ragged features, occasionally stopping to help the other after they had slipped slightly.
Reaching the top, Rhordan spun around in search of the hole. Finding it just a few metres away from the statue, a distance that she doubted she could make without her flying capabilities. Though before she could react, Gideon recklessly leapt, just barely managing to grab a hold of the edge. Hefting himself up, he quickly secured his position with his short swords before lowering himself out of the tunnel.
"I'll catch you." Gideon curtly stated, his mind no longer able to process more than three words without succumbing to the mental exhaustion of suppressing his magical trail. Rhordan hesitated for a second, unsure that she could make the jump, though the thought of ending up in the care of Helena forced her to grit her teeth and make the leap.
Gideon missed her hands only just, yet he was able to snag her backpack. Hauling her into the tunnel, they didn't stop to contemplate their second near-death experience as they frantically crawled through the small gap. At certain points they had to remove their backpacks and push them ahead through the gap, determined to make it through without letting out their magical trail. With their minds on the brink of collapse, they broke through the tunnel into a dimly light tunnel, rubble blocking one side and the other pitch black.
Falling to the lumpy and uneven ground, the pair released their spells, grateful that they managed to make it in time. The relief of no longer holding the mana washed through them, their tired bodies and aching minds creaking their thanks as they laid there.
It was several minutes before they managed to pull themselves upright, able to sit without feeling as if their mind wanted to rebel and send them crashing to the floor. They sluggishly withdrew their waterskins, taking careful sips as to not agitate their aching lungs. It was only then did they realise why the ground was lumpy and uneven, instead of being rubble from the cave in like they had expected, they currently lay among several skeletons coated in various armours.
"Could this day get any worse?" Rhordan groaned as she tried to shake off any parts of the corpses she got onto herself, she wasn't as prudent as most other woman, but even she couldn't stand the thought that she got someone else's decayed corpse in her clothes or hair for a second longer. Gideon, meanwhile, didn't seem as fazed as her, merely raising himself from his seated position and brushing himself off lightly. "What now?"
"We wait for nightfall." Gideon returned his waterskin back to his backpack, surveying their surroundings as he let the ache in his mind lessen. "Then we use the emergency teleport on this side to get us out of the dungeon."
"What if they are waiting for us?" Rhordan couldn't believe that he had a week to plan this and that was all he came up with, it infuriated her to no end that he could be so strange and idiotic at the same time.
"They won't… hopefully they won't" Gideon suddenly corrected himself, before now he was sure of his plan, that it had little chance of failure. That was until the incident with Helena, he didn't account for her when he made his plan. "Sigh… the original plan was to use the stone to fake our deaths, leave behind charred remains of cloth and blood. Wait here until night and slip away."
From his backpack, Gideon pulled out a large tightly wrapped leather-bound package. Unfolding it, he revealed several pieces of charred cloth matching their clothes and a few vials of beast blood. Rhordan looked sceptically at the blood for a second, hoping that it wasn't human, though she couldn't fault him on their plan. In their old world that might have worked, but after learning of magical trails, she doubted it would have here.
"Let's hope." Rhordan smiled, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Right now, they had escaped from the clutches of Helena and whoever else worked for Baltharn, that alone gave her peace of mind. Gideon sighed, berating himself for missing so many variables that could have gone wrong had things played out differently, he knew that he played it way to recklessly. "This zone should have some good gear, lets go have a look. Hopefully find something useful."
"Ha, we are going to need some of it to pay off the person who gave me the gem." Gideon broke out of his brooding, bringing himself back to the present and casting aside his gloomy thoughts. He made a silent promise with himself that he would never be that reckless ever again, that he would include Rhordan in on his plans from now on as he was sure she could have cut those variables in half easily. "Want me to work on the corpses while you keep watch?"
"Thanks… but no, I can't keep shying away from things if we are going to survive in this hell." Rhordan reluctantly set to work, scouring over the skeletons as Gideon proudly smiled at her.
"Use your magical sense, focus on finding the most powerful items, we can't bring them all with us." Gideon stated as he activated his magic sense, zeroing in a few pieces of armour that still retained their power. Some pieces were beyond repair, others had decayed from the substantial time they spent enclosed in the dungeon. There were some that stayed intact, ones that Gideon and Rhordan worked to remove from the skeletons.
While removing the gauntlets from one of the more decorated corpses, Rhordan found a ring that looked eerily familiar. Removing it and holding it in her hand, she examined it carefully, trying to find out why she knew it. Then, when she placed the ring on her finger, she found that she could feel inside the ring. That there was a limited sized space inside with a few objects already inside, the reason she remembered the ring sprang into her mind.
"This is a spatial ring! Like the one that Alex has." Rhordan exclaimed, drawing Gideon's attention. He made his way over to her, astonished with her find as he stared at the unassuming ring on her finger.
"What's inside?" Gideon didn't know much about the spatial rings, he hoped that they followed game mechanics and gave them an unlimited amount of space that hopefully would be filled with valuables.
"The space inside is limited to roughly three metres squared, a decent size when you think about it." Rhordan admired the interior of the ring with her eyes closed, moving a few of the objects around inside after a few failed attempts. The physical size of the object must fit within the space, and the more that one put into the ring the less space was available. Three metres squared was fairly decent, she was sure they could store a considerable amount with relative ease. "There are only a few items inside, hold on."
Pointing the ring at the only clear area of ground around them, several items suddenly appeared there. The first item was a beautifully decorated sword encrusted with various gems and a weird emblem engraved on the hilt, it was accompanied by a note tied to its sheath. The second was an elegant black and red glaive, its blade shone with a bright red energy while the pole was made from some form of black iron. The third, a simple ring made from what looked to be silver and a large black gemstone embedded in the top, the ring itself exuded an evil aura that had Rhordan quickly throwing back into the spatial ring.
Apart from those items, there were provisions that somehow were still in perfect condition, a pile of books, a sack containing various magical beast cores, and a small pouch filled with several gold pieces. Whoever this person was, they had to have belonged to one of the rich noble families, the gold pieces alone confirmed this.
"We should store the valuable items in the ring and carry the rest." Gideon stated, working things through his mind over how to proceed. He noticed that Rhordan was now glaring at him, offended that he would try to hide the good items from the people that were helping them. "We have recently found out that not one, but two people aren't who they seem. If anyone else find out the value of what we found then they may not be as friendly, or it would attract the unsavoury types that would gladly kill us for it, either way its better if we keep this to ourselves."
Rhordan reluctantly agreed, after the few people they had already interacted with had hidden predators waiting to cut their throats for some unknown reason, she didn't want to give them an actual reason to come after them. Returning the sword and the glaive, she was about to put the magical cores away when Gideon stopped her. Scanning through them, he picked out a few good-looking cores before handing the sack back to her.
Packing away the cores, he got back to work on the items from the skeletons, splitting the pile of gear into two. A niggling doubt entered his mind as he worked, they had been there for awhile now and no magical beast had turned up. Now that he thought about it, the corpses were laid out as if they were waiting for a rescue. A chill ran up his spine as his thoughts turn to the possibility that the teleportation pad didn't work, though he held out hoped that since they were the first adventurers here then they wouldn't know about them.
Once they were done, they packed away the good looking and brightly glowing gear into the ring along with several of their own items, especially their communicators and the vial of crystal blood before packing the second pile as best as they could into their own backpacks. They steady themselves, staring into the darkness, sparing one last look to one another before setting off.
The tunnels were just as long winding and dimly lit as the rest of the dungeon, a commonality that this dungeon's creator annoyingly liked with great vigour. They found piles of bones that oddly resembled some of the magical beasts they had fought previously in the dungeon, though there were some that looked eerily similar to the Ice Spine Panther. It caused both of them to wonder if the dungeon was always the way it was now, or if higher ranked magical beasts resided in the first few floors when the dungeon was first opened. They tried to look out for chests or anything that could resemble treasure, they found nothing, only bones or dust.
"It seems that I was right…" Gideon morosely stated aloud, he stared glumly at the open area filled with bones. He noticed Rhordan looking at him with confusion, wondering what he meant. "The group that we just looted, they didn't die from the cave in. They must have survived and scavenged everything around here while they waited for rescue."
"Wait… doesn't that mean…" Rhordan tried not to shudder at the thought of being trapped in here for the rest of her life, resigned to walk these halls and kill magical beasts, gather items that meant little if they couldn't leave. Though, as she thought about it, a glaring observation struck her.
"Let's hope since they were among the first to attempt to clear this dungeon, they didn't know much about it." Rhordan voiced Gideon's silent hope, though he couldn't shake a niggling strand of fear from tangling his heart and his hope, that their luck was quickly running out.
As they turned around a corner, a part of the dungeon's wall caught Rhordan's eye instantly, she had seen a similar one earlier but had avoided approaching it as they were with company. Staring at the wall, she decided to take a note out of Gideon's book and let her instinct guide her. Placing her hand against the glyph, she felt another surge of energy enter her mind, though this time she was expecting it and felt little to no discomfort or the strange burning sensation.
The surge of energy didn't give her another map or impart any other piece of information, rather it asked a riddle. I am not alive, but I grow; I don't have lungs, but I need air; I don't have a mouth, but water drowns me. What am I?
Rhordan thought for a moment, trying to work out the riddle. Running through things that need air and grow but was not alive and water is lethal to it, she eventually found the answer, the only thing that grows and needs air but water kills it.
"Fire." Rhordan spoke aloud, unsure of how she was supposed to submit her answer. Gideon leaned against the wall Rhordan was working on, he waited patiently beside her, wondering what she was doing but remaining quiet to let her concentrate. The wall he was leaning on suddenly came live, shifting fairly quickly away and into the wall itself, sending him careering towards the ground. Landing on his backside, he glared angrily at Rhordan, who was trying not to laugh.
Shaking himself off, Gideon followed Rhordan into the new smaller tunnel that only led a short distance into a small room made from the same types of materials as the rest of the dungeon. There in front of them, stood a large dark metal chest. Approaching it, the metal chest opened to reveal three items carefully placed inside, each laid on a fine red fabric.
An old bulky leather-bound took the centre place, on the right from it rested an elegant yet simple necklace with an iron chain and an intensely glowing white gemstone pendant. It wasn't apparent if the gemstone was an actual diamond, but it closely resembled it. The last item was the weirdest out of the three, it looked to be beautiful gem carved into a perfect sphere that was roughly thirty centimetres in diameter, it held a swirling mass of extremely dense mana that shone brightly with a dense dark green light and a tinge of light pink swirling around in it, the intense light dissuaded them from trying to look at it with their magical senses.
Stowing the gemstone in the ring, they examined the other two objects, the book didn't have any defining features other than the glyph on the front. Carefully opening it, Rhordan found that the book was entirely written in those glyphs, she sighed before storing it alongside the gemstone to further examine later on. The necklace was somewhat weird, it glowed brightly though it didn't have any element of its own, rather it seemed to be just pure mana.
Unsure of what to do with it, she stored it alongside the other items. Exasperated, and yet happy to finally some treasure of their own, they left the room in search of others like it. They had time before they would be anywhere close to night-time, knowing that they scoured the walls. A slight hope of finding something else that might be immediately useful to them pushed them onwards.
Hours trickled by as they gradually cover each and every wall twice, ensuring they didn't miss anything before heading towards where they knew the emergency exit to be according to the map. They hadn't found another hidden door like the first, they did find other areas that showed signs of having been looted.
Rounding the final corner leading to the teleporter, they stopped dead in their tracks, dread chilling them to their core as they stared helplessly at what was in front of them. The emergency exit mimicked the style of the first floor to second floor teleport, however the glowing blue stone pillar lay dormant, lifeless.
Author's Note: Betrayal after Betrayal, but who is truly good? and who is truly bad? No matter what, trust is becoming a valuable commodity that is short on supply, and the pair will have to learn that sometimes trusting someone else may be the difference between life and death even if it's the person they wanted to avoid at all costs.
Comments:
Frog31791 – Thanks for the comment. Don't worry, its coming! Raven won't let him continue to dodge her forever.
Eris – Thanks for the comment. Bob knows something, or is he someone important? Who knows…
Gar is suspicious of just about everything, falling back into his days in the doom patrol when he had to be serious and wary of all things. I hope this chapter shows what he noticed, and as for what he planned.
As for who Gar was talking to, that won't revealed just yet. Though I can say that you haven't seen the last of Xan and Sapphire, however they aren't going to be around often through the story. Sorry.