Kairakas and Korarall continue ahead, with Sarmenor joining the crew. They're forced into a puzzle quest.

There wasn't much you could do, given the circumstances. You couldn't stay and fight, not when some of your allies were heavily wounded from the previous battle. Korarall pushed a fallen shelf up against the door, scratches still able to be heard from the other side.

But at least now, they couldn't reach you, not even with their combined strength. They weren't able to fight you… much less capture your weakened allies.

You were stuck in a limited hallway, a single door on the other side. You can hear grumbles and complaints, coming from ahead.

But you can't tell exactly if they're friends or foes. You couldn't rest here for long, nor would you be able to press ahead in such a perilous state.

Shoot scanned through his gear, "I have a healer's kit… with at least two more uses. I'm sure I could patch both up, however, I'm not sure if it's a good move to do. I rather keep at least one use as a just in case…"

"Am I suffering from bleeding damage, given your earlier description?"

"You are not, it was more a description, toward explaining how badly wounded you are."

"I feel like Korarall got injured more than me… plus, given Knuckle's earlier outburst, I imagine that the two are boyfriends in this universe. He should get to be healed over me."

"You're closer to death than I am. Take the healing kit!"

"You decide… I have zero input over the matter." Iason remarked with a smile, "It's between Korarall, Kairakas and Sarmenor at this point."

"Korarall says yes… I say no… what does Sarmenor say? I know you're the one that offered to heal me, but surely, you'd put your boyfriend before me."

Sarmenor's eyes narrowed slightly, lips pursed into a thin line "I think it's clear I'd rather heal you, rather than my big oof of a boyfriend. He can take several hits… you, however, cannot… not without putting your life on an endless path of death save rolls. The fact you put Korarall before yourself, knowing that we're partners… it's safe to say you're not using either of us for a free heal."

"I could be using reverse…" Killua had to stop and think for a moment, wondering if it was a thing. They've done it before, had to convince an enemy to do the opposite of what they want. Although the term they would use is far different to the human lexicon. But since they know Daniel's job involves the mind, it may be possible, "reverse phycology."

"Saying for us to not use it on you, even though it's what you want? That would go against your character, no? You have so far shown zero signs of deceit unless that's what you want…"

"I've yet to reveal my face… isn't that deceit?"

Knuckle crossed his arms, "Couldn't that be explained by beauty standards? You consider yourself, or in this case, your character's looks to be ugly. After all, I'm playing a Half-Orc, and they're notoriously known as not the prettiest things to look at. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say…"

"Beholder…?"

"A round floating head, with one massive eye and several smaller ones. They're very painful to deal with if you run into one in a campaign." Iason remarked, "Not something I plan to use on a person's first campaign."

Sounds like a Therarius, its weak point is in its back, but it's got eyes everywhere. The best plan of action is to use a distraction, while also positioning someone with impeccable precision to snipe them from afar "So you think my character is ugly, which is why I hide said face…"

"Is it…?" Sarmenor turns the question back to the other.

"I would certainly hope not…"

"Then several scars you wouldn't like others to see…"

Damn, they're making this hard by closing off so many avenues. If I supposedly came here looking for the treasure to claim for myself, then teaming up with them with the intent to steal the treasure later would count as a backstab… limiting my choices, huh?

"I could also be a wanted criminal, given my hood…"

"So, you don't want us to trust you, even though you've helped us at multiple stages…" Knuckle raised a curious eyebrow.

"No, I just want to know why you trust me… even though you barely know me."

"Because you haven't stabbed us yet." Killua was about to object when Knuckle stopped the person from arguing "Throwing a knife at Sarmenor doesn't count because that's considered a miss."

"Hmm…" Killua swiped a thumb under his chin, "Is Daniel the same?"

"Why you ask…?" Iason was a little curious about the statement, given they're the ones that should in theory know the man better since they're living with him.

"I'm talking character-wise, not his actual personality…"

"Hmm… he usually plays a Warlock, but he dabbles in Bard as well… he tends to use Cutting Words, Song of Rest and Bardic Inspiration. Would his character trust you if he met you first… yes, as long as you don't try to kill him at the start. Although, if you tried to do what you did to Korarall to him, he wouldn't have to trust you… but at the same time, he wouldn't have left his back wide open. His eyes would be on the doors at all times."

"Hey, I would've done the same… you made my character have his back turned."

"That is true… However, Daniel's not here to meet them first. Plus, I needed to give Killua freedom to act natural, and build his character without restrictions. Had you won against their roll, it would've been a completely different outcome."

"I guess…" The man sighed.

"My question is, why you're probing for his reaction…?"

"A little bit curious…" His character reacts differently to how he acts outside of the game… interesting. Though, I suppose this is a role-playing game. Maybe he was scared of me… or maybe, his concern to care for someone outweighs his survival instincts.

"Well, how are you going to act, Kairakas?"

"I'll reach for a middle ground… I owe you one, Sarmenor."

Sarmenor reaches for his Healer's kit, applying a small batch of the medical herbs and bandages to Kairakas, they're healed for… six hit points. The bond grows between the three, with Kairakas gaining new-found knowledge after the ordeal. He grows to level, two…

"So, you get…" Iason rolls the dice for Killua, "Six plus… three, making it nine bonus hit points, setting your max now at twenty. You get a bonus of nine on temporary hit points, making that nineteen. With that, you also unlock Cunning Action. You get to use a bonus action per round, whether that be hiding, to dash or disengaging from a fight. I guess switching weapons would also count here."

Killua noted everything down for themselves so they could look at that information later if they needed it.

With Killua's changes out of the way, Iason motions to the group "What do you do now?"

"Is there anything in the room?" Knuckle interrogated.

"Nothing of value, just the door ahead."

"I guess all we can do is proceed… Guards up, I suppose, since we don't know if it's a friend or foe. Most likely friend… since we dealt with a foe."

"Of course…" Iason smiled.

The group continued their pursuit of the artifact, a series of cages hanging over a large pit. Two of them seem occupied, the two simply whining, calling out for help. On the other end is a treasure chest with a wall of Unknown text.

You start to recognise their voices…

"How do you proceed?"

"Are there any enemies nearby?"

You cannot see any enemies looking after the captured fellows, but given the room, the trap might be the reason why there are none… or they could be in hiding.

Killua stepped into the conversation, "Can I go into hiding to search the room?"

"Certainly! Roll!"

Kairakas slinks into the room, using the shadows as their protection. There are no enemies, but the chest looks enticing to a thief's eyes. However, it could also be a trap…

"I guess it's clear… the chest could be trapped."

Iason looks at the remaining two, "Before you meet your fellow party members, would you like to say anything."

Meleoron smirked widely, "Hey you, free us from these traps!" The man then looked at Iason, "I assume we know how to free ourselves."

"Definitely!"

The Half-Elf calls out to the rogue now sticking out like a sore thumb, begging-

"Not begging, demanding…"

Iason rolled his eyes.

Ikalgo steps in, "Can you not threaten the only person that could free us!"

"He called out to someone, so there must be others nearby."

"Then you ask if they're friends or foes, not demand to be freed. Remember it could be a trap."

"Even if they were a villain, I'll still demand to be freed."

The Half-Elf calls out to the rogue, demanding to be set free, his fellow companion getting into a little bit of a spat with him, due to his demands forced upon him. Korarall and Sarmenor already knew who they are by voice and mannerisms.

"Look who found themselves to be captured…"

Meleoron sighed, "Of course, the big brute would be here… however, we need someone with a little more intelligence to free us." The other looked at the DM once more, "I mean in smarts, not wits… I assume."

"I'll let you have that dig… Want to voice your concerns Sarmenor and Ikalgo?"

"We're good…"

Irilrig Brighthammer, who you learn is the dwarf, points towards the wall where the chest is, mentioning the mural is what explains the mechanisms to freeing them from their captor. Meiphanis, the Half-Elf, while agitated, mentions it was a damn Tiefling Warlock that locked them up.

Unfortunately, the creature made sure to hide the mural behind the magic, unless they understand Infernal, they'll be forced to read gibberish text.

Killua frowned, "I assume only I can read it… correct."

"Correct."

"So, if I do this, he'll know I'm a Tiefling."

"Yes… or that you can argue you understand Infernal because humans can learn another language because human's main language is already common. Every race already knows their race's language, including common."

"But Meiphanis is going to immediately assume I'm a Tiefling. Or am I wrong…"

When Killua looked at Meleoron, the man smirked in response to the accusation "Wouldn't it be down to a roll, me calling your bluff."

Iason frowned, "Even if he's a Tiefling, I refuse to allow you to kill them off, over your character's hatred for their kind."

"Me accepting him willy-nilly would go against my character's personality."

"I'm asking you to keep it civil, not attack them."

"Fine~"

Two could read the mural, although none were aware of the second.

The group chose to ignore the fight, due to it being outside of the context of the game. Plus, Iason hadn't told them much about the mural. It's up to them to gauge how to proceed.

Knuckle went first, "Well I can't read it… what if we go hunt down the Warlock and kill him, certainly, that would dispel the magic."

Shoot argued against the idea, "Knowing the situation, it's possible, that it's a fight none of us could win. A high-level Warlock that serves as a plot point, rather than a winnable fight… If we had Ianzu, he might be able to dispel it… but that's going off as a guess."

"I could probably beat him into a pulp. It's a warlock… how tough could he be? Did you gauge his level, Meiphanis?"

Meleoron looked at the DM, "Well, could I?"

"You could… you need to roll at least a fifteen to understand them, NAT twenty to figure out the being's motives. Modifiers don't count towards this roll."

"Alright, let's go!" The man rolled, getting the fifteen to get the bare minimum of information needed.

The red Tiefling exuded a powerful aura, outside of your area of expertise. But given the way the shadows fluttered around him, something abnormal followed him in the darkness.

Going against him without knowing what followed him in the shadows would be unwise.

"Yeah, maybe not…" Knuckle now agreed with his partner, "Do you think if we follow him into his lair, he'll have the cypher for the mural?"

Killua stuck up their hand, "I might… I might be able to read it." This was their moment to put them in the spotlight, to effectively throw themselves under a bus. Will it mean Meiphanis will call their bluff, certainly… but they were sure Korarall would come to their defence, with maybe Sarmenor joining in.

"What makes you think you can understand Infernal?"

Ikalgo interrupted the ensuing argument "I can also understand Infernal, but it's used more as a joke. Cleric, learning Infernal… to know how to insult them in their language. If I wasn't in the cage, I could read it, couldn't I?"

"Yes, you would… hence my earlier comment. Although, since the way the language is designed, I highly doubt anyone would want to describe each symbol for Irilrig to translate it back to common."

"Why don't you take a stab at it, Kairakas…" Everyone but Killua groaned at the pun.

Killua wanted to question the reaction, but given the situation, they assume to take a stab at it, must mean something along the lines of having a guess. They could probably do more than guess "I'll try… do I have to roll?"

"No…" Iason ripped a page out of his journal, sliding the paper across, "Here are the instructions on how to free them? Would you rather I read it in, third-person as a part of the story or do you want to take over?"

Killua looked over the image and instructions, understanding the thesis behind the trap. It was elaborately designed to require all of them to work together, "So there are several steps along the way to free them. First, we're going to need to break a lever… the second step is, we're going to need to shatter the ward. Third, bless a statue… it's become corrupted by the Warlock. Fourth and final request… somebody is going to need to hit the eye on the roof. It's the button to release all the doors."

"Well, I can't shoot the eye without my bow… and I don't think I'm going to ask anyone to throw my bow across the chasm to me."

"That's why we need to break the lever, it's the thing that locks the cages in place. Knuckle is going to have to pull the chains and move the cages around so that Irilrig can be placed in front of the statue, for the blessing, and for you to be moved onto the platform so you can aim and shoot the eye."

"So, how's Korarall going to move us around?"

Iason cleared his throat, explaining the elaborate puzzle.

The cages are attached to interlinking sections so that no cage can occupy the same space. However, every cage on the row or column moved in the same direction, whether they were being pulled towards or away from you. If a cage is already at one end, you cannot move any of them in the same direction. You need to navigate around those limitations.

Iason handed out the three a map of the cages, showing them the puzzle "Have a crack at the puzzle you have about ten minutes to solve it, not because there's a time limit, it's because I don't want you going at it for hours. The bolded areas are the spots you can't pull the cages towards, the ones in red are where your allies are at. Have fun…"

The three got to work, trying to figure out how they could manoeuvre their allies across the two spots. Knuckle and Killua through sheer mental gymnastics and constant head scratching found the pathway the allies could be moved across the field with the limitations they had.

Sarmenor opened the chest, finding only his allies' weapons were being contained inside. Irilrig managed to subdue the evil spirit possessing the statue, a crack forming across the target Meiphanis was supposed to hit.

The eye moved as if sentient, looking at everyone in the room. That didn't forebode too well, it means their situation had become dire. They needed to free themselves before their captor returned to see what was going on.

Having handed over the bow, Meleoron aimed, letting the arrow loose.

"The arrow sails across the room, hitting a metal pole before landing on the floor, where it promptly bounced straight into the pit below. Suffice to say… you missed your target."

The group bursts into laughter at Meleoron's unfortunate roll, the man having rolled a one.

"You lose some of your pride while in the confines of the cage. Would you like to try again?"

"Ha, ha… laugh it off. Of course." The man rolls again.

The eye is pierced with a shriek, the sentient target once more returning to stone. The cages open, releasing a few skeletons into the pit below and your allies who can step on land once more.

Meiphanis is quick to point out which room the Warlock went through, leaving you with only one pathway to go down.

"Unless you want to take the other pathway towards the Warlock?" Iason smiled innocently.

"I rather take my chances with the unknown…" Killua remarked, lips curling into a sly smirk. They had no idea what Iason planned to do with a high-level Warlock, but going up against one, even with a whole party is unwise.

Then again, the destruction of the stone eye and the statue being blessed could have reduced their power, possibly even significantly. Although, it's unwise to fight an entity they're unsure of, especially, those who have the advantage in the unknown.

"Speaking of unknown, I want to call Kairakas' bluff."

"You're doing this now, knowing the Warlock is making their way here."

"Of course, I want to know more about the unknown entity joining our group…"

"Hey, I don't know about you, but I rather not deal with a Warlock. Put your intent away until after we're out of danger, or I'll leave you for dead so that you can deal with the warlock, alone."

"They're the only ones able to read the mural, what if they're lying? What they did, instead brought our downfall."

"Easy…" Ikalgo stuck up a hand, "I can read Infernal too. Pass the note."

Ikalgo looked at Iason's notes, "Nope… they read everything correctly. They just missed one crucial step."

"Ah, huh-"

"It says here Meiphanis is an idiot."

"What…?"

"I'm with Korarall, I rather place my trust in the figure that saved us, over the Elf with a boner for people who speak Infernal."

"You're not interested in what's under the hood?"

"I'm a dwarf… the women, are known to be just as hairy as the men. So, maybe they're a really attractive fellow under the hood, or maybe they're hideous." Ikalgo looked at Killua, "No offence."

"None taken… I think."

"OR… if they are hiding something, it might be because of people like you. Also, the Warlock is on the way, and I don't have enough healing to deal with an overpowered creature that could hit in the high twenties. So, either you cast aside your anger boner over the fact Kairakas, could be a Tiefling, or a creature of hell… as many other races speak Inferno, or I'm with Korarall and we use your ass as a distraction for the Warlock."

"What about you Sarmenor, a holy man travelling with a creature of hell…"

"Did…" Sarmenor paused for a second, "did you call me a holy man, even though it was the Cleric, a man who is a practising holy man… was the one that roasted you."

"I…"

"I'm a monk, who punches creatures… not prays for them."

"Three against one…" Meleoron let out an irritated click, eyes shooting a glare at Killua. The person remained neutral; no expressions were being made in response. Suddenly, the man smiled, laughing at the situation "I'm speaking out of character for the moment. I hope you don't feel like I'm picking on you."

"Oh, what's with the change of heart?"

"I made my character to despise Tieflings… I specifically picked the two-race choice as a favoured enemy… so I could have Tiefling, but for the second… I decided to go with the least humanoid, the Dragonborn. Although, Tiefling is the one my character will notoriously pick a fight with."

"Actually…" Knuckle stepped into the conversation, "Daniel rolled a Tiefling Warlock once, he would sass Meiphanis every chance he could get. I'm talking bard levels of sass, minus the damage aspect."

"Unless you count the emotional damage… do you know how hard it is to stay in character, while having your favoured enemy, as a Warlock, belittle you every chance they can get."

"What would he say… out of curiosity?"

"I once failed to hit an imp five times in a row… and he brought up the fact that imp would've lasted longer in the bedroom, than the number of arrows in my quiver. It was a sly and cheeky roast… and it was also true because I only had three more arrows left, at the time. But alas, I have no ill-will towards you. You're a cool dude."

"I'm no dude…"

"I mean dude in a gender-neutral manner. I called some woman dudes too… mainly when I'm super high… I'm not high right now, but I am quite relaxed. But besides that, I can see you joining this group more often than not… maybe you can ever get the hermit to re-join DnD, we miss that hermit's sass."

"How so…?"

"Friends can drag other friends to these kinds of games. Since you live with the guy, and he drove you here… maybe next time he could stay to join us."

"It would be interesting to see how he plays this game. What kind of person he acts like…" Killua fell silent for a few moments, wondering how different the man was in person when compared to his character, "Anyways, let's see if you can force my face reveal." The alien smirked at the other.

Meleoron grinned, "Oh, you're on. By the end of this game, I'm gonna force you into a face reveal."

"Shall we roll on it?"

"Later, for now… I'll play team. Although Meiphanis distrusts Kairakas, he's not willing to face the Warlock alone. What's behind the other door?"

Iason's lips curled into a smile. He was glad the man conversed with Killua outside of the character, weighing in on his true personality. At least now Killua can rest assured that they're not being targeted by malicious intent.