Vagis came face to face with what looked like...a kitchen?
He frowned. Why would a Tower Manager of all things need a kitchen? Things were making less and less sense the longer he spent in this place. Perhaps...perhaps it wasn't a Tower? But that would mean Captain Rayn was wrong. He admired the man and could tell this was his first time leading a group.
He didn't want to crush the [Knight's] hope if this whole fiasco turned out to be false. He'd go in a little deeper, see if there was something up just in case.
After a quick check with [Sense for Traps], he entered the kitchen. As he observed the room, Vagis couldn't help but mentally praise the designers tasked to construct it. Everything screamed 'rich, posh noble' from the cupboards to the icebox. He felt a little self-conscious as his muddy boots tracked dirt on the smooth, redwood floors.
Thinking of the mess he must've caused, glanced back the way he came only to find that the floorboards were still shiny and immaculate. Vagis backtracked into the hallway and, sure enough, there was nothing detailing his short trek through the Tower.
"That's so freaky," he muttered, tightening his grip on the squishy. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he let his beloved trap-fooler get absorbed by this creepy place.
Vagis re-entered the kitchen, wondering if he could find something worth looting. Wait, shouldn't I wait till the others come in so we can split it? That's how things work in Towers, right?
He was so used to shortchanging the rogue hunters he worked with out of the random loot that always appeared in a rogue's wake. But he supposed that if he did that here, with experienced Tower adventurers, he might not ever be picked on a team again. He could probably get away with a few items, but he had a feeling stealing wouldn't end well.
Is it technically stealing if they never laid claim to it? he thought, opening a cupboard. Seeing it was empty, he moved on to the next one. I mean, I am a part of their party, too, so should it really matter? Shoot, this one's empty, too. Who has a bunch of cupboards and doesn't fill them with expensive things they'll never use? Especially nobles!
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His father was a level 125 [Manor Thief]. The man was so skilled at breaking into the nobility's homes, he'd gotten an entire class for it. Vagis knew that, from all the stories his father had told him, an empty house meant that someone had already gotten to the house or it was a trap just waiting to be sprung.
At that thought, Vagis spun around and launched himself out of the kitchen, leaving the cupboard he'd been glaring at still open. When nothing blew up or shot arrows at him from behind, Vagis crawled back into the kitchen.
He frowned as he got back to his feet and dusted himself off. I'm starting to think that whoever made this place has no regard for their safety, whatsoever. It wouldn't pay to be lazy, though. Getting too confident gets you killed. Rest in peace, Pa. That stew got you good...
When [Sense for Traps] revealed nothing and both the rest of the cupboards and the icebox gave him nothing, Vagis sighed in disappointment. But just before he left the room, a shining something caught his eye. It was a small, simple key, but the way the light caught it...He was sure it was important. Vagis grinned, shoved it in his pocket and walked out of the kitchen.
Just outside of it, he spotted two doorways up ahead, one of them closed off with a rotted, unlocked door.
Shut off places usually mean more loot, no matter how run down the barrier. And didn't Pa always say the older it looks, the more money it makes?
He threw the squishy against the door, the loud squelching sound breaking the silence of the hallway. Vagis winced at the sound and doublechecked to make sure no mobs were coming to investigate. When the coast was clear, he hurriedly picked up his squishy-he had not forgotten about the Tower's absorption powers; the floors were still clean!
[Sense for Traps], again, showed him nothing. He was starting to get frustrated now. All of this precaution and it's giving me nothing? What kind of Tower is this? I thought it would be some grand adventure, not some tour through some empty noble's house?
He threw open the rotted door-quite literally, as he ripped it off its hinges. Scowling, he dropped the door and scoured the tiny room that stood before him. All he saw was a partially rotted blanket covering an even-worse looking chest. To make things even worse, there was nothing even in it!
"Worst. Tower. Ever."
"Um...who are you?"