Our little group of four recovering drunks stumbled down the darkened streets of Hollow Hill, lit only by disc-based lamps. It must have been nearly midnight by now, and we really should be heading back to the tower, but I couldn’t help myself.

Earlier, one of the locals that I’d met in the tavern had been telling me about a local legend involving Hollow Hill, in between rounds of drunken singing. Apparently, there was a reason Hollow Hill was called, well, Hollow Hill.

It was because the hill the town was built on was hollow.

Who knew?

Anyway, apparently centuries ago, settlers into the region had nearly passed up this location altogether. However, they had found something at the base of one of the local hills.

A large, metallic door set into the base of it.

The settlers had made numerous attempts at opening it, to no avail. Still curious, the settlers had tried to dig around the door, only to be astonished when they discovered a continuous wall of metal extending into the dirt. Subsequent digs into the top of the hill had discovered that the walls of metal completely surrounded some kind of structure underground. That had pretty much made up the mind of those old settlers to build their new community right there on that hill.

Thus, Hollow Hill was born. And then a few decades after that, a man named Greycton would be born there.

I’d been intensely curious about this door once I’d heard about it, even through my inebriation. I’d made a conscious effort to stop drinking at that point, and let my tavern food dinner soak up the alcohol in my bloodstream. That was going…more or less okay. I’d only nearly tripped and fallen face-first into the cobblestone street three times now.

Either way, I’d decided I wanted to see this door before I left Hollow Hill tomorrow and had convinced the locals to lead Azarus and I to it. Azarus was the drunkest of our group of four by far, while the rest of us were starting to sober up a little. The door was situated around the back of the town these days, but the trip to it wasn’t that long.

In the meanwhile one of the locals, CJ, was telling me more about the door.

“Ol’ Greycton is mad about that door,” He told me, slurring only a little. “He’s tried to get through it fer years. Even with as strong as he is, he couldn’t get in. Every once in awhile, he comes up with some new idea on how to get through. Last time was when I was a lad, and the town made a big old festival out of it. I can still remember the flash of light from whatever it is he did. But I remember the cakes from back then more, eh, Rudy?” CJ said, elbowing the other local in the ribs.

Rudy laughed and nodded. “Good times, good times.” He said wistfully.

Azarus laughed too, still blitzed out of his mind. I don’t think he even knew what was going on right now.

Huh. I understood why Grey had never brought it up with how busy we’d been. I’d ask him about it later.

I was knocked out of my thoughts when CJ nudged me in the ribs as well. “We’re here,” He said to me, grinning. Looking up, I laid my eyes on this mysterious door for the first time.

It was a bit…underwhelming.

Set into the wall of the hill was a large circular door, maybe ten feet in height. I assumed it was a door anyway, because whatever it was, it was covered in moss and vines. It was completely obscured from sight. There was a small cobblestone walkway that led up to it, and some local-looking stonework that seemed like it had been added later surrounding the entryway.

Turning to CJ, I raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged back at me. “Eh, we don’t get too many outsiders that are interested. I’ll just clear it out and ya can get a better look.” He raised a palm to point at the door, clearing about to use some kind of skill or spell or something. He was stopped by Rudy, though, when he put a hand on his outstretched arm.

“Let the new guy try, eh?” He said grinning. He turned to me. “Go on then, give it a try. See if you can get through the door where yer master couldn’t.” He laughed.

I rolled my eyes, but stepped up anyway. CJ stepped back with a grin, waving me forward. Whatever, if Grey couldn’t get through this door, I had no doubt I’d fail too. But I at least thought I could clear away the vines with my new skill. Raising my hand, I pointed a finger gun at the overgrown ‘door’. “Bang,” I said lazily.

Poisonthorn Shot.

I shot several thorns at different points on the door so the poison could do its work. The thorns burrowed through the moss and vines, but I heard the audible clink when they stopped on something metal beneath. They did their job though, as the poison began to rapidly spread and rot away the growth. Eventually, a large section of this mysterious door became visible.

I stepped up to get a better look, the rest of the group following close behind me. There were no street lamps close by to see, but Rudy raised a hand and called up a ball of light. Giving him a nod of thanks, I leaned in to get a better look.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I was puzzled by what I saw.

This…didn’t look like it belonged in magical fantasy land….

I know it was a little thing, but the mysterious door that the locals had been telling me about? Well, it looked more like a vault door from back home. Huge and thick, it looked like it had been constructed of multiple pieces and then fitted together. But the seams from in between the parts were so faint that I had to get my eye right up to them to see. I stepped back, unnerved. I don’t think there was a blacksmith alive that could smith so fine on such a scale. I don’t even know if I could, with Aetherial Melding.

This door looked like it had been machined in a factory.

Stepping closer to it, I laid my hand on it try and get a feel for the metal. I was curious to see if it was machine-smooth as well.

I don’t think anyone was expecting what happened next.

The door lit up at my touch.

From the point of contact of my hand, veins of rainbow-colored Aether began to snake away in a web. Slowly crawling along the surface until they reached the edges of the door under three astonished gazes and one drunken one. There, they encircled it until the entire huge door was lit up. I stumbled back from the door. “Wh-”

I didn’t even get a chance to finish my word before I, and my entire group were blown off our feet by a huge explosion of noise and air that emanated from the door. Scrambling to sit back up from my position a few feet away from the door, I watched in amazement as the door began to fold away in sections from the center in a definitely mechanical way. It was like watching a bloom in advance.

At the same time, I had to brace myself by clutching uselessly at the grass as air began to rush into now open door. All four of us slid several feet forward, but not quite inside. When everything was over, all four of us simply sat on the ground uselessly for a moment, stunned.

Surprisingly, it was the drunken figure of Azarus that stood up first. With a surprising expression of concentration on his broad features, he very obviously activated a skill. Azarus’s skin began to redden slightly and then started to steam. A few moments later, he shook his head like a dog and turned to our two local guides. “You two,” He said in a commanding, completely sober tone of voice. “Go to the tower and tell the guards that Azarus Savoy and Nathan Hart need the Headmaster down here, immediately. I don’t think I need to tell ya why, do I?”

Shaking, CJ and Rudy got to their feet. “N-no, milord,” Rudy stuttered. “Right away, milord. C’mon Carl.” CJ, apparently named Carl, nodded in a jittery manner. Both of them turned around and raced off back in the direction of town and the tower, eager to put distance between them and yawning dark portal behind them.

Meanwhile, Azarus turned back around and offered a hand to me on the ground. I took it and stumbled to my feet. “What the hells did ya do this time, Nate?” Azarus said to me, exasperated. “I was enjoyin’ my buzz, and didn’t want to burn it off like that.”

Shaking my shock off, I shot my dwarven friend a wounded look. “Man, I didn’t do shit. All I did was touch it,” I paused for a moment, furrowing my brow. “All I did was touch it, so it must be something about me that caused it to open…” I exchanged a glance with Azarus.

“And the only thing that’s really special about ye…,” Azarus said slowly.

“Is the fact that I’m a Precursor.” I finished for him. We stood in silence for a moment, absorbing that. I glanced over my shoulder at the pitch-black opening. “Huh.”

Azarus shook his head. “No wonder Grey couldn’t open the damn thing then.”

I turned back around and raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, you were paying attention, were you? Honestly thought you were too drunk for that.”

“Too drunk?” Azarus scoffed. “Ya haven’t even seen me really drunk. That was just a light buzz.”

I shook my own head at him. “Whatever man. Anyway, what’s the plan? Do you really want to wait around for Grey to see what this is about?”

Azarus gave me a startled look at that. “Hells no. This thing opened for you. Let's go, I’ll light the way. That farmboy ain’t the only one that can make a bit of light.” He said, holding up a hand. Over his open palm, a sphere of tightly controlled roiling flame appeared, like a star writ small.

I smirked at him. “You know, I was hoping you’d say that.” Turning around and stepping back to stand shoulder to slightly lower shoulder, I couldn’t help a sense of anticipation rising up within me.

Now this was something that I wanted to be doing in magical fantasy land.

Exploring strange dungeons.

Stepping forward with my friend, we entered the pitch-black, mysterious doorway.

……………………………………..

I don’t know what I was expecting inside, but it wasn’t this.

This didn’t look like some kind of fantasy dungeon to my eyes. No, it looked like the opposite.

Under the flickering orange light of Azarus’s fire, it looked like I had stepped into the middle of some futuristic ruin.

Gazing around in confusion, I couldn’t help a chill from running up and down my back. God, this place almost seemed familiar to me, for some reason. I’d never seen anything like it before in my life, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of recognition.

I think it was because the design sensibilities were so…recognizable to me. This place reminded me of a hospital from back home. Only…

A few centuries. No, a few millennia more advanced.

It was clearly ruined from some kind of battle.

It was mostly what should be a sterile white in the hallway we had entered into, but it was marred by rubble and streaks of black soot. Not only that, though.

I saw plenty of streaks and patches of a gruesome red-brown around us.

Clearly long-dried blood…

There were no bodies, however. Not even the slightest indication of one.

Shattered glass and machinery that I couldn’t parse lay everywhere along the ruined walkway. Every once in a while, I could see a yawning open doorway on either side of the long hall we had entered into. Most of the time, they were blocked by rubble and we couldn’t even see inside of them.

Azarus and I were silent as we slowly navigated the ruins of this place. I think most of our enthusiasm had been drained as we took in our surroundings. This wasn’t a place anyone should be happy to be inside.

This…was a tomb.