Pareth used Sofia’s storage to teleport around the group as they fell and caught everyone before they could stumble any further down the stairs.
“Ah, thank you,” Sofia thanked him before she quickly walked back up as everyone else was busy dusting themselves.
The green giant had turned away and was already leaving, which was actually slightly annoying.
Couldn’t this thing at least guard the entrance?
She grabbed the open doors, but they wouldn’t even begin to move.
Annoying… I don’t like this.
Ihuarah was first to climb back up too, gliding along the stairs in his shadow form, he popped out of it right next to Sofia. “You would lock us in?” he asked.
“I wanted to, but it looks like I cannot… Thing is, I am pretty sure the red lion was fighting someone else. Not a monster. I would rather not have to deal with a surprise guest. Especially not one who can fight back against these things.”
“We cannot seal back the palace,” Ihuarah started, “but if there is someone waiting to enter after us, we are fortunate that you noticed. If I am to be honest, I expected the palace’s emergence to attract some attention anyway, just not so early. It matters little, as only Sorrow’s kin may wield her artifacts. Let us err on the side of caution, however, and hide a few traps near the entrance…”
“Will a few traps be of any help if they can fight back the things outside?” CInthia asked after climbing up the stairs with Pareth and Everelle.
Ihuarah looked outside, “These guardians… To speak in the system’s terms, feel like they should be around level 400. Perhaps a bit lower. So slightly weaker than baby Dragons. If they were fighting seriously. Clearly they are holding back in some way. I lack the mana to kill such an opponent with my traps, but certainly impairing their movement and alerting us to their presence is in my capabilities. Besides, divine sanctuaries like this one are not welcoming to uninvited intruders.”
“Let us hope that there isn’t anything of that level inside…” Everelle chimed in, “Traps it is, then?”
“I believe any ordeal we are about to face should have a reasonable way to be dealt with by Sorrow’s Apostle, no matter the level,” Ihuarah explained, “And yes, traps. I shall take care of this matter and join you when it is done. You must go ahead and find the artifact, Lady Sofia. Do not let this hold you back,” Ihuarah explained, already starting to bring an assortment of exotic plants and rocks from his multiple storage rings.
When Ihuarah joined the others down the long stairs, he found them waiting for him in a room with bone-covered walls.
“I’m making a mold of the fresco from this room,” Sofia explained, “we couldn’t choose which path to take without you, since you have the locket it might be easy.”
“I am afraid that the locket is of no help here,” Ihuarah answered, as he examined the three closed doors in the room, one on each side except the one with the stairs.
Ah, that would make things a bit more complex.
“Everyone is saying they can’t help because Sorrow is watching…” Cinthia said from the side.
“Hints in the fresco seem to point to the doors other than the one we choose being condemned,” Sofia continued to explain for Ihuarah, “but it’s not actually helping choose one.”
“This place is meant both to protect the artifact and to judge whether you are worthy of wielding it,” Ihuarah said, “designed by the Merciful Mother’s followers of old. There must be a hint somewhere.” Saying this, he tried to activate the locket despite saying previously that it wouldn’t help. Only to shake his head as the artifact was unresponsive. “The proper term for these wall decorations is sunken relief, I should add. These used to be very popular in my time.”
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Sofia stored the remaining bones on the walls to uncover the entire sculpted reliefs for Ihuarah to see, herself looking for something she might have missed.
There must be something I’m not seeing. But there is nothing to differentiate the doors from one another except the wall they are on. Maybe something to do with the Cardinal directions? I think I have a compass stored somewhere… Ah crap.
“My demon form is about to run out…” Sofia warned the others, “If it’s needed to progress further, we might be stuck for half an hour.”
“So long as the person outside does not interfere, we should not be pressed for time,” Ihuarah reassured her, “Let us closely examine these sunken reliefs. Since they hold one hint for the doors I suspect they should hold the entire solution.”
Sofia braced for her transformation to end and the following weakened state to ensue, but as her internal clock reached five minutes, nothing happened.
Did I lose track of the time?
Sofia turned to Pareth, How long has it been?
Since Pareth could not exactly answer more precisely than with his fingers, Bookie appeared to answer for him. “Five minutes and twelve seconds!” he happily informed her, covered in his new luxurious black attire with red and blue metallic highlights and decorations that made him look like a young skeletal prince.
“Thanks Bookie. So I was not counting wrong. Nevermind everyone, my transformation isn’t running out here, it seems. That’s quite nice, actually.”
Let me try to tone down the lights, though, it’s a bit too much in such a restricted space.
While Sofia was busy fiddling with VPPV to alter her Lumian lights, Cinthia caught everyone’s attention, “The viewers have something to say, just give me a second to translate, they all started writing in Orcish, I don’t know why…”
Everyone intently listened as Cinthia read from her invisible chat window, “An history lesson… The negative Gods were to decide on a name for themselves… And they chose the obscured… Ah, I guess this translates better to Recessed,” Cinthia interrupted herself, “Taking after the statues of gods that humans would often place in a recess of temple walls. They felt it in accordance with their philosophy, to watch mortals from their peaceful dark corner, taking care not to cause too much interference in their fragile lives.”
So they are helping after all.
“It appears that your presence here will indeed be invaluable, lady Cinthia,” Ihuarah said, moments before getting punched in the gut by Everelle.
“Damnable flirt,” she complained jokingly.
“I only have eyes for you, Eve,” Ihuarah retorted.
“I’m the only one with eyes in this couple…” Everelle answered before she turned her attention back to the murals, which Sofia was already intently observing once more. “I hope you don’t mind the small talk, Sofia.”
“Huh? Are you kidding? This is great. Reminds me of when I was going around with Alith. These days I’m mostly alone with Bookie and Pareth, they’re nice but it’s not quite the same,” Sofia answered, her eyes scanning through the many intricate details of the sculpted murals, “More like family than friends. This is good for a change. And I get pretty excited at the mere thought of exploring this place, honestly. You could leave all the fights and riddles like this one to me and I’d still be happy just to have you all around… Speaking of which.”
Sofia’s clawed fingers caressed the stone surface of the walls, reaching a part of the sunken relief that depicted a stylised grand place of some sort in which many faceless figures danced. A few of these figures were slightly hidden in the background, barely sculpted out of the stone. Sofia’s nails traced their contours one by one, until they stopped on one particular figure. The barely visible back-facing silhouette of a kneeling woman.
Found you, Sorrow.
Probing the wall behind the sculpted woman with her mana senses, Sofia pained to see anything, the entire Palace seemed to hinder her senses to what was physically visible, yet, by focusing her mana perception on this precise emplacement, she felt a faint something. Like a small hook that her senses could somewhat latch onto.
Pulling her mana senses back Sofia hoped to pull on that thin mana hook, and the previously brightly lit room became dark.
“I did something,” Sofia told the others.
“You found the correct door, I’d say,” Everelle commented, as a thin ray of light coming from a previously nonexistent hole in the ceiling drew the shape of a fourth door on the floor.
“The first one was on us, the rest is up to you,” Cinthia read out loud, “What now, do we break the floor?”
“Let me see…” Sofia said, “I can’t get through any of the walls here with the graveyard skeletons, but I’ve not tried this corner of the floor.”
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