The walls and, therefore, the corridors of this stronghold extend well below ground. I am standing over the bodies of three dead Ghouls and two Lesser Devils. Ghouls are undead, and Devils are Infernal, yet they work together. They also both have the same death poison.

Minor Regeneration is hard at work, burning out the poison, and I smear more Purification potion on the wounds. I found three more intact potion cabinets, each with two Greater Purification potions. I have been using them sparingly, but I am still working through them.

I have a notification on my Status.

Unnamed fighting technique complete. Do you want to name your technique?

This is not the first time this has happened to me, but I felt the technique needed more refinement. I think I might be ready to give it a name now.

I look at the half-used bottle of purification potion. Yes.

New Fighting Technique:

Purifying Dance: To be used with a sword and dagger. Bonus Damage against Undead and Infernal Creatures: +10% Critical Chance, +20 holy damage.

This technique is linked to most of my fighting and movement skills and vision skills. It was unique to me. It was a good general technique for a sword and dagger combo, and it became amazing against undead or infernal creatures. I may not need to buy that Shadow Dance Technique now.

I stood and stared at the blank wall.

Two fights ago, no three or four fights ago, I had a breakthrough. The monster core of a Ghoul gave me a skill, no, not a skill. It is almost part of my armour. It is certainly a defensive ability. Death Resistance 1. It is a resistance against Death poison and, in fact, all Death Magic. It has just gone up to Level 2 and is helping me resist the poison I took in that fight. Even though the help is small, it will level up. If I had learned it the first time I had been poisoned, it would have been maxed out by now. Typical of the trial to try to kill me. Every little bit helps.

If I have a resistance against Death Magic, I am going to assume it is something else I can’t learn, like Earth and Air. Not that I want to learn Death Magic. That may not be the case. Resistances might not be related to affinities for something.

This wall is fascinating, but I had better harvest these kills. I am now well-practised in harvesting from Undead and Infernals, so it does not take me long.

I go back to studying the wall. I figured there was a reason the corridors go so deep. I would have a secret escape route out. This just comes from the keep to the walls, but I am sure I would find a way out past the walls if I kept going.

Do I want to go into the keep? I guess the first thing is, CAN I get into the keep? This door is extremely well hidden, and there are multiple overlapping traps. I can only see it with my Spectral Vision (See-thru), which is enhanced by my Perception. Observant Eye might be part of the mix as well.

The See-thru part of Spectral Vision is seeing a good way into the rock. When I look at my hand or fight a monster, I see bones with overlayed flesh in translucent layers. I am used to it now in these dark corridors. The Devils would have shown up in the Spectral Vision (Heat), but the Spectral Vision (See-thru) sees everything.

Mana Sensitivity is helping me trace the mana flows of the traps. This is beyond my Level 7 Disarm Trap Skill. It is probably beyond the level 10 skill. It is the overlapping traps that make it interesting. It was probably made by a master Trapper using his unique technique, just like I created a unique fighting technique. I have heard about this, but it is probably a lost skill. This is probably like a master craftsman but for trapping.

This was designed to be opened, but it may have been designed to be opened only from the other side. That doesn’t mean there is no way for me to get in from here, but it makes it harder.

I continue to map out the Mana patterns. The overlapping layers are very confusing, and I am amazed at how they managed to get them all to work together.

Six Ghouls and four lesser Devils later, I might have a place to start. Three more Ghouls and two lesser Devils later, and I was sure I had a place to start and a possible method to start. The thing is, I am not sure my Mana skills are high enough, even the advanced ones. The person who created this was a genius.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

If I do something wrong, various things could happen. Depending on what trap I get wrong, it would seal this door, so even a master miner would take days to dig through. There are cascading disasters from there, all resulting in horrible deaths for me.

The challenge is enticing even if I don’t actually want to enter. Just exploring these traps has jumped my Level 1 Create Traps skill to level 5, and my Detect Traps Skill has maxed out, giving me a point in Wisdom. I haven’t done anything yet. Mana Sensitivity is up as well.

Some of these traps are so modified they are not really traps anymore. I don’t know what to call them.

1. I am going to wait for the next set of Ghouls and Devils to pass. Then we can start.

Right, Mana sensitivity is on, and the first thing is to take this tiny mana stream and bend it out of the way without breaking it with Mana Manipulation. Then I use the tiniest slither of mana Disruption there and compensate with a little piece of mana strength to the flow there so it doesn’t trip that trap. Then, I extract myself and see if I was successful.

I am not dead, and yes, I was. My Disarm Trap Skill is guiding me to that section next, but I am sure that was a trap within a trap to catch people like me. We do this bit here, and it disables that section. I haven't even started disarming the first trap yet; I am merely getting access to it. This is going to take a while, and I have to make sure I am not at any sensitive part when the Ghouls and Devils come every couple of hours.

I also need regular breaks, or I will make a mistake.

Let's get into it. Slow and steady.

Eighteen Ghouls and twelve Devils later, I was almost there. These were not traps. I have been calling them traps, but they are so far beyond traps that they might as well be on one of the moons. A trap will trip something up or open a pit to fall into. These are works of art.

I will take a break now and wait for the next lot of Ghouls to come, as I can’t stop when I start the final steps.

I have maxed out the Disarm Traps Skill because this is so far beyond what it was designed for. This is a whole new world for me to learn, and I am learning. Mana Manipulation has maxed out, and I got MicroMana Manipulation and MacroMana Manipulation. MicroMana Manipulation is levelling fast. Everything got easier when I got that skill.

I harvested what would hopefully be the last Ghouls and Devils for a while and settled in for the final stretch. Mana Sensitivity has almost tripled in level, and from what I can sense now, I realise how lucky I was when I first started this. I honestly think my Cat Reflexes helped save me a couple of times.

I roughly slammed home the last mana surge as I was rocked and took a load of Death poison from the Ghouls, plural. I Light Speed backwards and fumbled a Purification potion, spilling it on a Ghoul. It didn’t like that and let out a moaning howl. The Potion damaged it! I didn’t have time to stop, but I was glad my Death Resistance was there. Once I had myself sorted, dealing with the ghouls and lesser Devils was routine. I left the last ghoul and sprayed it with a Purification potion, and its health was definitely dropping. This is a fantastic weapon to have against the undead. I will check how many potions I have left soon. I sculled a health potion instead of a Purification Potion to save them.

When I recovered enough, I looked at my status sheet, which flashed at me.

Special Action Performed.

New Profession Available

A new Profession? Not a new Class? I have one profession, although I have two profession slots. I picked up the profession as a Performer well before I met Carl’s group. I was putting on performances to scam people and do street Illusion acts. It worked well straight off my illusions and made them more believable.

I am looking forward to these options.

Do you wish to take the profession of Wardweaver?

Yes, please!

New Skill learned! Weave Ward.

New Skill learned! Unravel Ward.

New Skill learned! Mana Sight!

You have received +2 Wisdom +1 Intelligence.

These would have been useful in the last day’s work. I guess the last day or so was when I learned to do these Skills. This is what I did, and I have been recognised for it.

This is bloody fantastic! I am amazing! Just imagine the places I can get into with this skill. Imagine what I can charge to make wards for people! Yes! Yes! Yes!

I did a little happy dance. I made Lightreaver and Shadowbane do little happy dances, too.

When I calmed down, I decided to find out what was behind the door I had just opened.

I went into full Stealth, wrapped light around me, and opened the door.

What was behind the door? An empty corridor. I stepped in and examined the wards from the inside before closing the door, just in case I couldn’t open it again. Mana Sight was fantastic, and the mana flows were clearer. They were much clearer. This was the inside of the ward and the way people should exit.

I traced the mana flow, and they seemed to focus on a spot on the wall. I saw a hole in the wall at that spot. I double-checked. I triple-checked. I reached into my Storage and retrieved the key the Trial had left in the desk in the Monarch’s safe room. The key fit in the hole exactly, and when I turned it, the wards were deactivated.

The Trial had given me a key. With the newfound knowledge, I went outside the door into the corridor and traced the mana with my new Mana Sight. There was a small hidden hole in the wall exactly the size of the key.