Chapter 137

The next room was an open hallway that looked empty. Torches lined the walls and a long rug ran down the center of the corridor.

“Great.” Aiden groused.

“What's wrong?” Norri asked a bit confused. It was just an empty hallway.

“Traps.” Aiden answered shortly.

Carly looked worried before she realized she wouldn't be the one to disarm any traps. That calmed her down considerably.

“How do you know there are traps?” Jay asked as he inspected the corridor in front of him. He couldn't make out any traps from where he stood and he was the best at trap finding in their group. How did Aiden see the traps before him? “Also, where do you see them?” he asked.

Aiden sighed and swapped his staff to the opposite hand in a nervous motion. “I can't see any traps, but look at it. It's a long hallway with no monster and a rug. Have you seen a rug anywhere else in here?”

M'redith made a hmmm sound as she looked over at Aiden. He could be a bit of a goof off sometimes but every once in a while he turned out to show some unique insight in to their situation, such as now.

Jay walked a few feet down the corridor but was careful not to walk on the rug. Keeping to the sides of the hallway Jay knelt down and carefully lifted the carpet.

Underneath he found exactly what he thought he would. Trap triggers. He could see at least two pressure plates at the moment just from lifting a small portion of the carpet up. He moved further down the corridor and tried again.

This time the triggers were somewhat different, one looked almost like a trapdoor – that was bad news. Underneath it were most likely spikes or something equally dangerous. Jay carefully placed the carpet back as he found it being careful not to trigger any traps.

M'redith looked at him inquisitively.

“No good,” Jay said. “It would take hours to get rid of all the traps under that rug. I don't think we're supposed to deactivate the rug traps here – just avoid them. So keep to the sides of the corridor and no matter what you do, don't step on the carpet. Let me go first to check for any other traps that might not be under the rug to catch us by surprise. I'll let you know when to move up, ok?”

Everyone nodded. No one wanted to be the trap finder in the group. It was an inglorious job and a dangerous one as well. Jay wasn't thrilled with having to do the job either but someone had to do it.

Jay chose to walk along the left hand side of the corridor. He checked the walls and ceiling carefully before he'd inspect the floor where he was about to step.

He'd follow that with a few puffs of his Streamer Ball. The streamers would fall to the ground – or they wouldn't, becoming tangled across any trip wires. Sometimes when he found a trip wire the group was forced to go back to the entryway as Jay would have to walk back and then along the other side of the rug to access the trap itself.

Twice he was forced to stop and disassemble a trap trigger that had been set to catch anyone avoiding the rug. The first trigger came apart easily, a line not under tension. A second more complicated version that was under tension proved to be a bit more challenging.

The first one was easy – Jay just cut the trigger line. As long as the end of that line didn't pull the pin out of the trap trigger they were safe. The second one though – that was a bit tougher.

The second line was anchored to an eye bolt recessed in the wall. The trigger line then passed across the hallway six inches off the ground and was barely visible to the eye. The line then led to a trap housing with a tiny spring loaded hammer.

If that trigger line was cut then the tension holding back the spring loaded hammer would be gone. The hammer, no longer held back by the line's tension, would snap forward, striking a small glass vial.

What was in the vial? What did it do? Jay didn't know exactly but he was certain the effects would be negative. Traps were meant to harm or kill, and Jay wanted to avoid both of those things.

Jay disarmed the trap by pulling free the glass vial. It was fat, the size of his thumb, and filled with a roiling black liquid. Jay removed the trap line and the tiny hammer shot down, striking only air instead of the glass vial.

“Going to keep that?” Aiden asked brightly.

“Goddess no. Do you have any idea what would happen if we broke this by accident?” Jay asked seriously.

Aiden paused for a moment and looked at the others as he thought Jay was actually looking for an answer. “Er...no?”

“I don't know either and I don't want to find out! The vial stays here. I can set it in to the trap housing but off to the side – there's a storage slot for it. There. Now we're safe. Or safer than a few moments ago anyway.” Jay said, his voice gradually trailing off to mumbles.

Finally they reached the end of the hallway and Jay called a halt.

“Guys, I need a second to rest and...clean up. I'm soaked with sweat from the stress of all that and I could use a moment.” Jay said a bit tiredly once everyone had gathered at the end of the hallway.

M'redith nodded, “Go ahead. Clean up and we'll wait.”

Jay sighed and turned on his aura. He was a bit sweaty from crouching on the ground and trying to work in small spaces not to mention the fear of setting off a trap. Gradually the sweat and grime was wicked away from his clothing and body until he was left looking sparkling clean and somewhat refreshed.

The rest of the group still looked good from their last aura cleaning and wasn't due for another quite yet. With a satisfied smile Jay stood and everyone else followed, rising and falling back in to line.

“Ok,” M'redith said with a deep sigh, “next room!”

The group gave out half-hearted cheers. Dungeons were fun but not when all you were getting was useless armor as a reward. The silver coins were nice, none of them would turn down free money, but the amount of effort they were putting in to the dungeon run hadn't been adequately rewarded. So far. It was easy to lose track of why they were there.

The group wasn't doing it for the loot – this was a job. For the Church – Gaia's specifically. Specificity was important when it came to Gods, Jay thought to himself. And they had been warned that the rewards in this dungeon were lousy. Jay hoped that if they were able to finish the quest line they had gotten in this dungeon the reward might be better than usual – to compensate for the other treasure.

M'redith led them in to the next room, and it was a room this time, not a corridor, large and square. On the other end of the room was another door, just like the one they had come in through. Next to the door was an ornamental waterfall – the water falling in to a reservoir before it was pumped back to the top of the waterfall display so it could fall once more. It was only a few feet across and the sound of falling water made an oddly relaxing sound considering the dangerous area it was located in.

The room's floors were tiled and the walls were a pebbled white. The ceiling held huge timbers supporting the floor above. Light came from torches which lined the walls to their left and right. Their side of the room and the side opposite them with the door held no torches.

The torches lit up the floor near them with flickering light, the flames dancing in the air. The left and right sides of the room were lit enough to barely make out the floor around it. This left a central column running straight from one door to the other in darkness, the flames occasionally throwing a shaft of light through the blackness, showing only more floor tiles.

As the door clicked shut behind them they heard a number of squeaks.

“What's that?” Carly asked in a worried voice.

Norri smiled brightly over her shoulder in encouragement. “Sounds like rats. Nothing to worry about.”

Carly's eyes widened, she hated rats. Of COURSE there would be rats in a dungeon – they were the number one monster low level adventurers ended up having to fight. She still hated them – their long whiskers and their beady black eyes and those big teeth. The tail didn't do anything for her either. She shivered but tried to pull herself together.

Norri took a step back to talk with her as the group sensed movement across the floor in front of them.

Jay caught sight of one as it reached the left hand wall and wiggled through a tiny hall at the wall's base. Now that Jay was looking for them he could see tiny holes all along the left and right walls.

More rats began to crawl across the floor. Jay watched them closely but it was M'redith that figured it out first.

Jay could just barely hear Norri softly talking about how cute rats were to Carly behind them.

M'redith smiled and pointed at a row of rats. “There's a pattern. They form lines that crawl across. We have to wait until there is a break in the line and run through to the next clear space on the floor. There we do it again. And again. Until we pass all the lines of rats and reach the other end of the room.”

Jay nodded, “That makes perfect sense.”

Aiden shook his head, “Nah, too easy.”

Norri looked at him in shock, “Don't say that! Why would you say that!”

Aiden had the good graces to look sorry but he didn't change his opinion.

M'redith took another look at the space. There was a waterfall at the back, why? She was all but certain that there would be a reason for it. She'd made the best guess she could with the information she could see. There was nothing to do but try it out.

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Norri finally got Carly calmed down once they had figured out what was needed to get through the rats. All they had to do is walk through the holes in their lines. Well, hopefully that's all they needed to do, Norri thought to herself. She didn't share that last thought with Carly though.

The rats could clearly see the group but made no attempt to attack them. They stayed in their lines and ran from one side of the room to the other, wiggling through tiny holes once they arrived.

“Ok, one at a time. Anyone want to go first?” M'redith asked with raised eyebrows.

“I'll go,” Jay said as he walked over to the first line. He made a move as if to jump over the rats and the entire room of rats immediately stopped what they were doing, turned to face Jay, and hissed threateningly. It was a terrifying display. There must have been a few hundred rats in the room. Tough to fight.

“Ok. So no jumping over the rats. Got it.” Jay said as he backed down and waited for a way through them. The rats returned to their earlier paths, running from one side of the room to the other. He timed the passing rats until he spotted a clear opening. As it passed he darted forward through the gap, making sure the next oncoming rat didn't get too close to him.

Jay was focused on waiting for the next gap when it happened.

One of the rats pooped.

A pellet popped out and rolled in to the next clear lane – the one he was trying to get to next. The pellet grew until it was about an inch or two high. It sat on the ground as a green gas expanded from its location. The gas field gradually grew until it blocked off Jay's access to one whole side of the next clear lane.

It limited the spots he could use to jump through, a potential problem.

He could still get past – he'd just have to go through the gas. Jay was thinking of what this meant when another passing rat pooped out a pellet which rolled over in to the next clear lane and began to grow a green gaseous field around it. This further restricted the clear spots that Jay could cross over to.

Jay's group showed varying levels of disgust. Carly was horrified and looked as if she might be sick. Norri found it funny but gross. M'redith found it distasteful but shrugged her shoulders, resigned to what they'd have to do. Aiden was probably as grossed out by the display as Carly was.

Jay jumped through the next line of rats but was now hemmed in on both sides by green gaseous fields of only Goddess knows what. Jay wanted to get through there as fast as he could but there was no gap in the next line of rats. Not yet anyway.

Rats from the next line continued to poop as time passed. When the next gap in the line of rats finally came Jay had no choice but to jump across in to the gas.

For a moment nothing happened but finally he was presented with a notification.

Rat's Gas – you have been covered in rat's gas and will move slightly slower. Every exposure to rat's gas decreases your movement speed further. This decrease may grow up to a 75% decrease in movement speed but no more. This debuff will remain until removed. There are many ways to do so, discovering them is up to you!

Jay sighed but called out to his friends and told them what he had learned. As he did so he continued to watch for a gap in the next line of rats as they pooped pellets that rolled in to the next clear area and blocked off spots with gas.

“This is ridiculous!” Jay yelled.

Carly looked a little green and even Aiden was silent, choosing to keep his mouth closed. M'redith yelled back, “At least it'll just slow you down a bit!”

Jay laughed and wrinkled his nose, “Um, it smells something awful – that's the part I'm struggling with right now, not the speed reduction. I can barely tell that I'm...oh, there it is.”

Jay stopped laughing and focused. His movement speed had slowed enough that he could now feel the difference. He wondered about what would happen if he grew too slow to get through the gap in the line of rats before the oncoming rat got to him. Would he have to fight the rat? Would the rat go around him? Jay again really didn't want to find out.

Another poop pellet rolled directly across in to the space Jay would need to jump through. There was the gap he needed! Jay jumped across and quickly kicked the pellet to the side of the room. As the gas field hadn't had time to form Jay wasn't slowed down any further.

“I can't believe that worked!” Norri yelled but clapped her hands in excitement.

Knowing that he had a short window before the poop became dangerous made things a bit easier. The poop seemed timed now to roll directly across from Jay just as a gap presented itself. Jay would each time have to hurry across as he could no longer jump very far thanks to his movement speed reduction. Rats gas was no fun.

Jay would arrive in the clear area just as the poop pellet settled and Jay would have only a moment's time to kick it away from him before it spread its gas.

Carly looked on in horror. She would have to kick poop?? Carly had not signed up for this. Not at all. She would have to go back. Wait. Back to the agility test room with the crazy balance beam?! That was no good either! She was trapped between two seemingly impossible choices. She stood, worried about what she would be asked to do.

The group watched as Jay continued on until he finally reached the other end. The last row of rats proved difficult thanks to his debuff which turned out to slow him down quite a lot. He barely managed to shuffle past the row through the long gap between the rats once it appeared.

As Jay finished passing through the final line there was a brief 'pop' sound as all of the poop on the ground disappeared. At least whoever went next wouldn't have to worry about the old poop, only new poop. At least the poop balls were solid.

Jay sighed. He stunk. He walked over to the waterfall which was tall enough to walk through. “Hey guys, I'm going to check out this water feature – give me a minute ok? Maybe it will wash off this stink.”

The group all nodded. No one made a move to approach the passing rats.

Jay walked over to the waterfall and inspected it. The water fell hard enough that Jay couldn't make out the other side. Jay did what everyone does in a video game when they find a waterfall. He checked behind it.

He tried to walk through but there was a wall behind it. Jay thrust an arm through the waterfall and felt about with his hand. He couldn't see past the water but he could feel something. He used his hands to explore the object until he was sure.

“There's a lever back here!” Jay yelled to the others who all made various sounds of interest. Some were too preoccupied with the rats but M'redith had questions.

“Can you see what it's for?” she yelled as she watched a parade of rats run across the room.

“Can't see anything through the water. There's no indications of what it might do!” Jay called back from the water.

He was interrupted by a notification.

The healing waters from the waterfall has left you clean! Rat's Gas has successfully been purged. 62 instances removed.

Jay sighed. That meant that his movement speed had been reduced by 62% - quite a lot. He'd felt like an old man towards the end. Jay had no idea how much each gas field slowed him down so there was no way to figure out how many times he had failed to avoid them. Not that it mattered at the moment.

M'redith frowned. It was a simple decision. Either everyone took turns going across and then pull the lever or they pulled the lever now and took their chances.

The lever could do anything. It could trigger a new trap. Or unleash new enemies. It could also open a new path, maybe to treasure, or it could grant them knowledge that they would need for future fights.

“Ideas?” M'redith asked the group.

Carly shook her head and Aiden was the first to speak.

“Pull the lever.” he said as if there wasn't any question which was the right choice.

“Why though? What will it do?” M'redith asked.

Aiden shook his head, “It's better than taking your turn through the rats, isn't it?”

M'redith laughed, “THAT is your reason for pulling the lever? You're afraid of the rats?”

Aiden frowned and turned away slightly. “No! I'm not afraid of them. I'm disgusted by them. This room is horrible and I hate it.”

“And you want to go home?” Norri finished for him.

Aiden furrowed his brow. “Yes. No! I mean maybe the lever changes this puzzle and makes it easier.”

Norri grinned, “Yea, or maybe it adds SNAKES!”

Aiden paled, “Oh Goddess.”

M'redith chuckled, “Anyone else? Carly?”

Carly thought that Aiden's reasoning was perfectly reasonable. “I like Aiden's idea.” she said, not intending it to be funny.

Aiden nodded, “It's a good idea!”

Norri laughed. “Ok, ok. Let's try your idea. I mean we're going to pull the thing eventually. There's no way this group walks away from a lever without pulling it.”

M'redith smiled at that. “Ok. Hey Jay!” she called across the mass of rats. “Go ahead and pull it! Good luck!”

On Jay's side of things he was feeling content. His stink was gone. He had turned on his aura while the others argued and let it clean the stink off of him. He was still wet though as he still held the lever in his grasp.

“Ok, pulling!” Jay said as he firmly pulled the lever downwards. It moved with a rapid clicking sound until they all heard a loud clank.

All along the walls tiny holes were sealing themselves shut. Not all of them, not the exits. The entrances however, those were sealed preventing any fresh rats from entering the room. After a minute or so all the rats were gone and the remaining open holes sealed themselves shut.

Carly's eyes welled up with tears and she turned around and wiped at her face furiously to hide them before anyone noticed. They were tears of stress, and joy. A release from the worry and horror she had felt at having to get through all of the rats and poop. She would not have to stand in poop gas, or stand near rats, or run past them as she felt the next rat nipping at her heels.

Carly finally got herself under control and a moment later she was clear eyed with a straight back. The relief she felt made her feel guilty and she reasoned to herself that if she ever again faced a challenge like that she would face it head on rather than cower from it. It was a bold plan. She wasn't sure she'd go through with it.

Everyone cheered and Norri clapped excitedly as they all ran across the room to Jay's side.

Jay stood with his aura running so that it would dry himself off after playing with the waterfall feature.

“Well thank the Goddess for that. What do you think that was about?” M'redith asked Jay once everyone was back together.

“I think it was a lesson.” Jay said. “There was no combat, at least not that we saw. It taught us a very specific mechanic and once we'd learned that the reward was allowing the rest of the group to pass freely. I think we'll see something like this again in the near future.

The group grew quiet at that but they didn't seem as worried as they had originally. Now that it was familiar to them it was still gross, but Jay had been able to do it and if Jay could do it then they could do it as well.

“Ok, everyone line up,” M'redith said but was interrupted by Aiden.

“Grilled cheese break?” Aiden asked pleadingly.

M'redith smiled, “Ok. Let's take five to eat and then we'll continue on.”

Aiden took out his foil pouch and opened it up. It was sharp cheddar cheese this time on crustless bread. Everyone took a piece and made varying sounds of pain as they tried to cool the molten cheese in their mouths.

M'redith had waited until hers cooled and popped it in her mouth with a satisfied smile.